The Renaissance was a golden age in the long history of Venetian painting, and the art that came from Venice during that era includes some of the most visually exciting works in the whole of Western art. This attractive book―a comprehensive account of painting in Venice from Bellini to Titian to Tintoretto―is an accessible introduction to the art of this period.
Peter Humfrey surveys the development of a distinctly Venetian artistic tradition from the middle years of the fifteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century. He discusses the work of Jacopo and Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto as well as the paintings of those less well known―such as the three Vivarini, Cima, Carpaccio, Palma Vecchio, Lotto, and Jacopo Bassano. Humfrey analyzes these painters' works in terms of their pictorial style, technique, subject matter, patronage, and function. He also sets the art against the background of the political, social, and religious conditions of Renaissance Venice, as outlined in his Introduction. The book includes an appendix that provides brief biographies of thirty-six of the most important painters active in Renaissance Venice.
Peter Humfrey’s work Painting in Renaissance Venice is an essential work for anyone interested in Italian art. I would fully agree with the description on the back as “... the best single volume survey of the golden age of Venetian painting,,,”. Humfrey’s book is detailed and provides an understanding of the context of Venetian painting, exploring the art and artists of the Renaissance. Humfrey is brilliant at describing individual paintings, placing the work in the context of the artist and in the wider context of Venetian painting. It has taken me ages to read this as the book has led me to explore art and artists suggested by Humfrey. I would highly recommend this as a central text for understanding Italian art of the Renaissance.