Giorgione (Giorgio da Castefranco, 1477-1510)
In 1510, Giorgione (otherwise known as Giorgio da Castefranco, circa 1477-1510) died, falling victim to the plague in Venice. Despite only painting for around ten years (1500-1510) and producing thirty or so works of art, he was a key creative influence on Venetian painting, the Italian Renaissance and on the history of painting. He revived landscape art, the use of colour and light.
Giorgione came from Castelfranco, and served his apprenticeship under Giovanni Bellini. In the workshop he met two friends: Titian and Sebastiano del Piombo. The artist had a marked influence on the use of colour in Bellini's later works. After Giorgione's death, Titian and del Piombo completed his works.
Titian's early work was greatly influenced by Giorgione's new perception of light (the sfumato) and the attention he paid to nature and the landscape; so much so that the Concert Champêtre (Pastoral Concert) was long attributed to Giorgione.
Five of his works have been conclusively authenticated using historical sources, including the Castelfranco altarpiece (circa 1504) which transformed the tradition of the genre by introducing a higher perspective, the enigmatic and troubling Tempest (1506-1508) which has an Acadian tonality, and the Sleeping Venus (circa 1509-1510), the first real nude of modern art, which is said to have been finished by Titian.
