.gif)
Laura (Giorgione)
Encyclopedia
Laura, formerly sometimes known as Portrait of a Young Bride is a painting by the Italian
Renaissance
master Giorgione
, c. 1506. It is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
of Vienna
, Austria
.
Like Giorgione's other works, it is unsigned. An inscription on the reverse, accepted as early 16th century, identifies Giorgione as the painter and provides the date, making this the only work by the artist bearing a reliable date. It might show a young bride backed by a branch of laurel
(Laurus), symbol of chastity
, and carrying the nuptial veil. The gesture of opening the fur mantle to uncover the bosom indicates fecundity (and, therefore, maternity), as an offer of love and seduction. Alternatively, the figure might show a courtesan
—certainly many of the paintings in the Venetian tradition the Laura inspired were of figures to be read as courtesans, often posing as a mythological figure or the personification of an abstract quality.
It is one of the less controversial attributions to Giorgione.
This work marked the abandonment of Giovanni Bellini
's models by Giorgione, to embrace a Leonardesque
style.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
master Giorgione
Giorgione
Giorgione was a Venetian painter of the High Renaissance in Venice, whose career was cut off by his death at a little over thirty. Giorgione is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, though only about six surviving paintings are acknowledged for certain to be his work...
, c. 1506. It is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...
of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Like Giorgione's other works, it is unsigned. An inscription on the reverse, accepted as early 16th century, identifies Giorgione as the painter and provides the date, making this the only work by the artist bearing a reliable date. It might show a young bride backed by a branch of laurel
Laurus
-Overview:Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap ....
(Laurus), symbol of chastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
, and carrying the nuptial veil. The gesture of opening the fur mantle to uncover the bosom indicates fecundity (and, therefore, maternity), as an offer of love and seduction. Alternatively, the figure might show a courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
—certainly many of the paintings in the Venetian tradition the Laura inspired were of figures to be read as courtesans, often posing as a mythological figure or the personification of an abstract quality.
It is one of the less controversial attributions to Giorgione.
This work marked the abandonment of Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini, and his brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it...
's models by Giorgione, to embrace a Leonardesque
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
style.