Gozzi Altarpiece
Encyclopedia
The Gozzi Altarpiece is an oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...

 by the Italian Renaissance master Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...

, dating from 1520. It is located in the Pinacoteca civica Francesco Podesti in Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....

, central Italy.

History

The painting is the first dated work by Titian. It was commissioned by Alvise Gozzi, a merchant from Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik) who was active in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, for the church of San Francesco. The presence of a view of Venice in the background had a political message: in 1510 Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...

 had given freedom of navigation and commerce to Ancona at the expense of Venice, but in 1520 the European situation had cancelled this privilege. The presence of the Saints Francis and Blaise, respectively symbolizing Ancona and Ragusa, was thus a hint to their submission of Venice, represented by the Virgin Mary.

Description

The painting depicts Mary and the Child appearing on a cloud, above a dusk sky with golden, orange and red colors. She is flanked by a dressed and two naked angels, who are giving her some crowns. Beloew are the saints Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...

, who shows his stigmata, and Blaise, patron saint of Ragusa, who points at the kneeling donor.

The composition was perhaps inspired by Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...

's Madonna of Foligno, although developed according to Titan's more modern and lively style.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK