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    Giovanni Bellini: Landscapes of Faith in Renaissance Venice

    October 10, 2017–January 14, 2018

    Getty Center

    Saint Jerome Reading in the Wilderness (detail), 1505, Giovanni Bellini, oil on wood panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.217. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

    Saint Jerome Reading in the Wilderness (detail), 1505, Giovanni Bellini, oil on wood panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.217. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

  • Saint Jerome Reading in the Wilderness (detail), 1505, Giovanni Bellini, oil on wood panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.217. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

    Saint Jerome Reading in the Wilderness (detail), 1505, Giovanni Bellini, oil on wood panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.217. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

  • Saint Jerome Reading in the Wilderness (detail), about 1485, Giovanni Bellini, tempera and oil on wood panel. National Gallery, London. Bought, 1855. © National Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY

    Saint Jerome Reading in the Wilderness (detail), about 1485, Giovanni Bellini, tempera and oil on wood panel. National Gallery, London. Bought, 1855. © National Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY

  • Christ Blessing (detail), about 1500, Giovanni Bellini, tempera and oil on wood panel. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

    Christ Blessing (detail), about 1500, Giovanni Bellini, tempera and oil on wood panel. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

  • Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and a Female Saint in a Landscape (detail), about 1501, Giovanni Bellini, tempera and oil on wood panel. Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice. Photo credit: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali / Art Resource, NY

    Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and a Female Saint in a Landscape (detail), about 1501, Giovanni Bellini, tempera and oil on wood panel. Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice. Photo credit: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali / Art Resource, NY

  • Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist (detail), about 1458-59, Giovanni Bellini, oil and tempera on wood panel. Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Museo Correr, Venice. Photo credit: Cameraphoto Arte, Venice / Art Resource, NY

    Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist (detail), about 1458-59, Giovanni Bellini, oil and tempera on wood panel. Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Museo Correr, Venice. Photo credit: Cameraphoto Arte, Venice / Art Resource, NY

  • Sacred Allegory (detail), about 1500-1504, Giovanni Bellini, tempera (?) and oil on wood panel. Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo credit: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali / Art Resource, NY

    Sacred Allegory (detail), about 1500-1504, Giovanni Bellini, tempera (?) and oil on wood panel. Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo credit: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali / Art Resource, NY

  • Crucifixion (detail), about 1495-1500, Giovanni Bellini, tempera (?) and oil on wood panel. Collezione Banca Popolare di Vicenza

    Crucifixion (detail), about 1495-1500, Giovanni Bellini, tempera (?) and oil on wood panel. Collezione Banca Popolare di Vicenza

Giovanni Bellini: Landscapes of Faith in Renaissance Venice

October 10, 2017–January 14, 2018, Getty Center

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Giovanni Bellini’s evocative landscapes are as much the protagonists of his paintings as are the religious subjects that dominated 15th-century Italian art. One of the most influential painters of the Renaissance, he worked in and around Venice, and while his landscapes are highly metaphorical, they also accurately reflect the region’s topography and natural light. Created for sophisticated patrons, Bellini’s works present characters and symbols from familiar sacred stories, set in a dimension of reality and lived experience to a degree unprecedented in the history of Italian painting.

Generous support for this exhibition was provided by John J. Studzinski CBE, and Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Holmes Tuttle.

RELATED EVENTS

TALKS
“The best in the art of painting”: Giovanni Bellini and Landscape

Mountains, castles, caves, trees, and sunrises are just as much the protagonists in the paintings of Giovanni Bellini as are the human figures. Davide Gasparotto, curator of the exhibition Giovanni Bellini: Landscapes of Faith in Renaissance Venice, explores the meaning and function of landscape in the painter’s work.

Saturday, October 14, 2:00 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum Lecture Hall

How Does Nature Deepen Our Connection to the Sacred?

From pre-Renaissance to modern times, humanity has turned to nature for comfort and connection. What aspects of nature elicit such sentiments? And how does communing with nature affect our relationship with the world around us, and with one another? This panel with Chiyo Ishikawa, curator of European painting and sculpture at the Seattle Art Museum; Christopher (Toby) McLeod, director of the Sacred Land Film Project; and Sara Patterson, professor of theological studies at Hanover College, considers how and why nature draws us closer to the gods. Moderated by documentary filmmaker Jody Hassett Sanchez.

Sunday, November 12, 3:00 p.m.
Getty Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium

Bellini and the Renaissance Imagination

Keith Christiansen, the John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, considers the singular achievements of Giovanni Bellini as a painter of devotional artworks. He explores the critical traditions that underlie the conception of Bellini as a religious artist and how he expanded traditional parameters of the genre through a heightened emphasis on artistic invention and imagination.

Saturday, December 2, 2:00 p.m.
Getty Center: Harold M. Williams Auditorium

COURSE
Drawing from the Masters: Drawing Landscapes

Explore techniques for composing pictorial elements, dividing space and suggesting depth to create dynamic landscape drawings with artist Peter Zokosky. All experience levels welcome. Sign-up begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Information Desk.

Sundays, November 5 and 19, 3:30–5:30 pm
Getty Center: Museum Galleries

TOUR
Curator’s Gallery Tour

Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings, the J. Paul Getty Museum, leads a gallery tour of the exhibition. Meet under the stairs in the Entrance Hall. Sign-up begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Information Desk. Capacity limited.

Wednesdays, November 15 and December 13, 2:30 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum galleries

PUBLICATION

AUDIO TOUR

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Listen to experts’ insightful commentary and period music as you visually wander the exquisite, surreal landscapes of Bellini’s paintings.

Pick up a multimedia player free of charge in the Museum Entrance Hall.

GALLERY TEXT

EXHIBITION CHECKLIST

RELATED EXHIBITION

Sacred Landscapes: Nature in Renaissance Manuscripts
October 10, 2017-January 14, 2018, Getty Center
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