Born in the late 1470s, it did not take long for Giorgione to make his name in Venice. He soon rose to prominence as one of the city’s great talents, making it even more strange that he left behind so few works: there are only six paintings that are indisputably attributed to him. Nonetheless, his artistic legacy was immense and would go on to influence the later paintings of the Italian—and arguably the European—Renaissance.
1. Giorgione Spent His Formative Years in Venice
The magnetic pull of Venice brought Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco to the city from his hometown of Castelfranco Veneto at a young age. Separate sources record that he took up an apprenticeship under Giovanni Bellini, in whose studio he likely associated closely with many other successful and aspiring artists.
Although details about Giorgio’s youth are hazy, it seems that he quickly established himself as a unique talent and began producing works under his own name, the augmentative Giorgione, or ‘big Giorgio.’
In two documents from 1507 and 1508, he is referred to as Zorzi, the Venetian dialect form for Giorgio. The nickname Giorgione first appeared in 1528.
In his The Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors, Giorgio Vasari claimed that Giorgione had humble origins and considerable charm. His description, however, is likely the product of Vasari’s own imagination.
2. Little of Giorgione’s Work Has Religious Themes
Like most of Italy, Venice was (and is!) filled with churches, and yet it is doubtful whether any of them were ever touched by Giorgione’s brush. In 1504, he painted the altarpiece of the Matteo Costanzo cathedral in Castelfranco, and he is recorded to have created miniature Madonnas. However, little other religious work survives.
In fact, one could argue that Giorgione was among the first to create “art for art’s sake,” a motto that would only find its place in mainstream art several centuries later, especially in artists associated with Aestheticism. His paintings often denied the viewer the moral, message, or story they were so accustomed to seeking, and instead evoked feelings and atmosphere through their use of shape, color, and subject matter.
For instance, Giorgione’s The Tempest has been described as the first landscape in Western painting. Of course, it is possible to find meaning and symbolism in any art, but Giorgione’s natural vista takes a step away from the moralistic, religious work of his contemporaries.
Since the Catholic Church was generally better than private owners at preserving and recording its paintings, this might explain why so little of Giorgione’s work was recorded for posterity: the domestic paintings he did on private commissions are likely to have been lost or destroyed.
3. Giorgione Was a Pioneer of Renaissance Portraiture
Along with his close associate, Titian, Giorgione transformed the genre of the portrait. His models no longer bear the serene, passive faces of former portraits. Rather, Giorgione strives to convey the emotion and personality of his subjects, some of whom stare directly at the viewer.
These are characters with whom we can interact, their expressions anxious, mocking, or, in the case of Laura (shown aboe), defiant. The painting of the young girl bridges the gap between dignity and shame. Her face is proud and sophisticated, but her body is exposed.
Giorgione’s portrait work was so successful that at only 23, he was asked to paint the Doge of Venice, the highest official of the Republic of Venice.
4. He Painted Revolutionary & Sensual Pieces
In addition to kickstarting the genres of landscape and modern portraiture, Giorgione was responsible for the first reclining nude in Western painting. His Sleeping Venus shows the goddess sleeping naked on a hillside, her sumptuous body mirroring the undulating landscape. It evokes the erotic ideal promoted by classical literature of the vulnerable woman in a magical pastoral setting.
Although such a bold subject was shocking at this time and place, it became a prominent motif in Venetian painting, and soon afterward, Titan produced his own, remarkably similar, Venus of Urbino. Unlike Giorgione’s, Titian’s Venus is awake and engages the viewer.
5. The Authorship of Some of His Paintings Is Debated
The similarities between Titian and Giorgione are no coincidence, as they were both apprentices of Bellini, working together as assistants on several projects. They even appear to have collaborated on a number of later works: Titian is thought to have created the landscape of Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus, and to have completed several other paintings after his colleague’s death.
One piece, in particular, the Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman, continues to provoke fierce debate among art historians, as they argue over its attribution. Some see Giorgione’s hand in the daring face of the young man, while others are convinced that it bears the characteristic marks of a Titian.
6. Giorgione’s Environment Shaped His Work
The city of Venice was unlike any other in Italy. Its proximity to the water made it a central trading hub that connected the West with the exotic lands of the East. This gave its artists early access to the rich new colors imported from abroad, and also exposed them to different cultures and appearances that often find a way into their work.
Nonetheless, it was still a strictly religious city with great regard for propriety and reputation, so much so that noblewomen were expected to maintain the utmost standards of modesty, rarely appearing in public. To compensate for this, Venice was famed for its escorts, prostitutes, and courtesans. It is generally thought that these were the women used by Venetian artists as models for their paintings, especially nudes. It would be rare to find the same breed of passionate, sensual women seen in Giorgione’s work elsewhere in Europe at the time.
7. Giorgione May Have Been a Keen Astronomer
The new knowledge and understanding developed during the Renaissance sparked increased interest in the field of astronomy, as scientists and philosophers alike looked to the heavens to unveil the universe’s secrets. Giorgione also lived at the dawn of the Age of Exploration, when European ships were being launched further and further afield to uncover exotic riches, using stars as an important means of navigation.
Indeed, there is evidence that Giorgione may have contributed to the advancement of the science that accompanied these technical developments. There survives a collection of drawings entitled Astronomy, which includes an armillary sphere and diagrams of solar and lunar eclipses.
Furthermore, the astronomer Aristarchus of Samos appears in his painting, The Three Philosophers. Most interestingly, the sheet of paper held by Aristarchus shows the four largest moons of Jupiter, a century before Galileo Galilei is claimed to have discovered them. The identity of the three men in the paintings, however, is a matter of debate.
8. Giorgione Shared the Contemporary Enthusiasm for the Classics
The paintings of the High Renaissance often depict the stories and myths of the classical world, replete with naked nymphs, majestic heroes, and idyllic landscapes. As for the rest of the Renaissance period, the revival of Classical learning, values, and scholarship was a key aspect of artistic expression.
At the same time, the works of Leonardo da Vinci showed how artists began to create human bodies with greater skill and accuracy, reflecting the sculptures of the ancient world. These features come together in Giorgione’s work, as he couples classical imagery with the rediscovered physical forms.
9. Little Is Known About His Old Age
Information about Giorgione’s life and death must be inferred from a number of sources. In his Lives, Giorgio Vasari implies that Giorgione died during the plague while still in his mid-30s. This is supported by a recently uncovered archival document that records his death on the island of Lazzareto Nuovo, where Venetian plague victims were quarantined.
There is also a letter written by an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, Isabella d’Este of Mantua, in 1510, requesting that her agent Taddeo Albano purchase a painting by the late Giorgione. The reply asserts that the piece could not be bought for any price, suggesting the artist’s momentous popularity. Yet, an inventory of inheritance reveals that the artist left behind little other than his paintings and his reputation.
10. Giorgione Is One of the Renaissance’s Greatest Influences
After his premature death, Giorgione’s work continued to influence other artists for centuries. Titian developed his legacy, and together they are considered the founders of the Venetian School of painting. This movement was characterized by its passionate colors, emotional intensity, and luxurious depth, as well as its radical approach to the subject matter, incorporating new secular models alongside traditional Biblical scenes.
Giorgione was immediately hailed as one of the greatest Italian artists of the age, and his revolutionary approaches to painting made him a permanent figure in the canon of art history, continuing to inspire right up until the Romanticism of the early 19th century.
