around 1477 -1510 · Castelfranco, Venice and poetry of color

Atmospheric landscapes, enigmatic subjects and faded color make Giorgione the mysterious initiator of the Venetian Renaissance of the 16th century.

Giorgio da Castelfranco, nicknamed Giorgione, was probably born around 1477 in Castelfranco Veneto. His life remains poorly documented and his catalog continues to spark debate, but his influence on Venetian painting is immense. He probably formed in Giovanni Bellini's environment and worked in Venice at the turn of the 16th century. In the Castelfranco altarpiece, the Virgin and the saints are no longer isolated in rigid architecture: landscape, light and silence unite sacred space. Giorgione then developed paintings intended for private collectors, often small or medium format, whose subjects remain difficult to explain. The Tempest combines a soldier, a breastfeeding woman, a city, a flash of lightning and a humid nature without delivering a certain narration. The Three Philosophers put observation and light at the heart of an equally open meditation. This ambiguity becomes a poetic force. Color no longer only adorns the drawing; she gradually builds bodies, air and depth through fine tonal transitions. In 1508, Giorgione worked with young Titian on the exterior frescoes of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, now almost lost. In 1508, Giorgione worked with young Titian on the exterior frescoes of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, now almost lost. In 1508, Giorgione worked with young Titian on the exterior frescoes of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, now almost lost. Titian also completed certain works left incomplete, which explains several attribution problems, notably around the Sleeping Venus and the Concert country. Giorgione died of the plague in 1510, still young. In a career of around fifteen years, he nevertheless opened the way for Titian and a whole painting based on atmosphere, inner music and freedom of gaze. The "Giorgione" selection notably compares The Tempest and Sleeping Venus. His reading favors space.

In Giorgione, the subject never closes: color, landscape and silence create an enigma that the viewer must inhabit rather than solve.