Gentile Bellini
Gentile Bellini Biography
Jacopo Bellini’s eldest son, Gentile (1429-1507), was taught painting in the workshop of his father. He had no shortage of commissions, his talent as a portraitist revealed itself at an early age. Gentile’s career was spectacular. In 1469, he was appointed count palatine by Emperor Frederick III, and in 1479, at the age of fifty, the Republic of Venice sent him to Constantinople to paint the portrait of Sultan Mehmet II: a great honor. The famous portrait of this oriental monarch, conqueror of Byzantium, is now in the National Gallery, London. Mehmet “…could hardly understand,” wrote Vasari, “… how any mortal could possess the, as it were, divine skill of imitating nature so vividly.” Bellini returned, a whole year later, piled high with gifts and honors, including the title of “bey” (knight).
Gentile Bellini 8 Most Important Paintings and Artworks
- Madonna And Child With Donors.
c.1460. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany.
- Sultan Mehmet Ii.
1480. Oil on canvas. 70x52cm. National Gallery, London, UK. Read Note.
- Procession In St. Mark's Square.
1496. Tempera on canvas. 367x745cm. Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy.
- Procession In St. Mark's Square. Detail.
1496. Tempera on canvas. 367 x 745cm. Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy.
- The Recovery Of The Relic Of The True Cross At The Bridge Of S. Lorenzo.
1496-1500. Oil on canvas. 323x430cm. Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy. Read Note.
- Portrait Of Catarina Cornaro, Queen Of Cyprus.
c. 1500. Oil on wood. Szepmuveseti Muzeum, Budapest, Hungary. Read Note.
- Portrait Of A Patrician.
Detail. Oil on canvas. Kiev Museum of Western Art, Kiev, Ukraine.
- A Turkish Janissary.
British Museum, London, UK. Read Note.
Gentile Bellini Bibliography
The Art of the Italian Renaissance. Architecture. Sculpture. Painting. Drawing. Könemann. 1995.
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary. Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999. (in Russian)
Venetian Painting in the Fifteenth Century: Jacopo, Gentile and Giovanni Bellini and Andrea Mantegna by Otto Pacht, Margareta Vyoral-Tschapka, Michael Pacht. Harvey Miller, 2003.
Venetian Narrative Painting in the Age of Carpaccio by Patricia Fortini Brown. Yale Univ Pr, 1988.
