Previously Unknown Giorgione Painting Found in Germany

A double portrait by the Venetian Renaissance painter Giorgione was identified in the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich.

Dec 18, 2024By Emily Snow, News, Discoveries, Interviews, and In-depth Reporting

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Giorgione is one of the most impactful yet enigmatic figures of the Italian Renaissance. While he profoundly influenced the trajectory of art history, the Venetian painter died young and left behind scant evidence of his personal identity and artistic intentions. A forgotten double portrait in Munich, recently reattributed to Giorgione, promises to reveal rare insights into the poetic painter’s short yet impactful career.

 

Giorgione Double Portrait Is “Of Inestimable Value”

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The newly-discovered double portrait by Giorgione (1473/74-1510). Source: Bavarian State Painting Collections, Germany.

 

Established in 1799, the Bavarian State Painting Collections oversees artwork held by the Free State of Bavaria. The collection is headquartered in Munich and comprises paintings, sculptures, photography, film, and installation art. Many of these are currently on display at museums and galleries across the region. An Italian Renaissance double portrait in the collection—now known to be the work of Venetian painter Giorgione—has been on view in the Green Gallery in Munich since 2011. It depicts a young Florentine, Giovanni Borgherini, with his teacher, Venetian polymath Trifone Gabrieleau. Another version of the same subject, also attributed to Giorgione, belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

 

The rediscovered painting is now on permanent display at the Alte Pinakothek (Old Picture Gallery) in Munich. “The painting is of inestimable value,” said Andreas Schumacher, head of the Italian paintings collection at the Alte Pinakothek. “It is a spectacular stroke of luck for the Alte Pinakothek and a sensation for Italian art history.” Markus Blume, Bavaria’s Minster of Art, said, “The discovery of a Giorgione in the Bavarian State Painting Collections is a true Christmas miracle.”

 

Analysis Reveals Hidden Details in Portrait

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The Alte Pinakothek (Old Picture Gallery) in Munich, Germany. Photo by Andreas Praefcke. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

 

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The painting was positively attributed to Giorgione following comprehensive art historical research and technological analysis. Researchers at the Bavarian State Painting Collections also discovered three additional compositions hidden beneath the visible double portrait. These offer rare insights into the working methods and experimentation of Giorgione, an influential artist about whom little is known besides Giorgio Vasari‘s brief 16th-century account in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.

 

Who Was Giorgione?

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Sleeping Venus by Giorgione, c. 1510. Source: Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.

 

Giorgio da Castelfranco, known as Giorgione, was a renowned painter in Venice during the High Renaissance. Together with Titian, his younger contemporary, Giorgione founded the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance painting, which was distinctive for its poetic use of color. Giorgione’s creative counterparts in Florence and Rome, meanwhile, were more interested in pursuing anatomical and geometric perfection in their work. Giorgione’s career was cut short when he died in his thirties. Only a small handful of surviving paintings are attributed to his hand, shrouding his legacy in uncertainty.

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By Emily SnowNews, Discoveries, Interviews, and In-depth ReportingEmily Snow is an American art historian and writer based in Amsterdam. In addition to writing about her favorite art historical topics, she covers daily art and archaeology news and hosts expert interviews for TheCollector. She holds an MA in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art with an emphasis in Aesthetic Movement art and science. She loves knitting, her calico cat, and everything Victorian.