Giorgione - Out of reach

Art History is full of elusive characters - from early renaissance painters who neglected to sign their works, to modern day masters who seem to intentionally keep themselves hidden behind a veil of mystery.

These artists are not quite kin to the countless “unknown” or “anonymous” works we have inherited over the years, (where, from the very outset, we know there is little hope of ever discovering their true creator.)

But instead, I am thinking of those individuals who have managed to leave us just enough of a legacy in order to know their name, or learn of their reputation . . . while, beyond that, so much more about their life and work seems to remain tantalizingly out of reach.

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We see this at times with the likes of Caravaggio, who spent so much of his life trying to evade capture from the authorities.

Or with Johannes Vermeer - who, in one of his most famous works, paints a self portrait of himself with his back to the viewer . . . (Thus leaving us now more certain of what the back of his head looked like rather than his actual face!)

And of course, the great Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the most famous example of this too . . . as a man who seemed determined to be “known”, but never to be “understood”.

Yet with today’s artist - the Venetian painter Giorgione - we might just be dealing with the most elusive of them all.

Young man with an Arrow - 1506 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)

We believe Giorgione was was born in Castelfranco Veneto around the year 1474 - just a few miles inland from Venice, where he would spend the vast majority of his life.

We are told he likely served his apprenticeship under Giovanni Bellini - but showed such prodigious talent, he quickly progressed to setting up as a master painter in his own right (possibly while still in his teens).

And we know beyond any reasonable doubt that he would go on to have an astonishing impact on an entire generation of painters that followed him - including none other than Venice’s most famous son, Titian. (Who, incidentally, may well have been one of Giorgione’s students . . . or, at the very least, was certainly a close friend as the two men are known to have painted joint works together)

But outside of these basically agreed on facts - (mostly inherited from Vasari’s “Lives of the Artists” . . . which, admittedly is not always known for rigorous accuracy!) - Giorgione’s life is generally one of Art History’s “great unknowns”. And sadly, the man himself died young too - possibly while still only 32 years old. Hence, he never really had time to leave us any more substantial clues to get to know him better.

The Castelfranco Madonna - Giorgone’s only known Altarpiece.

The Tempest - 1508- Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

So, for all those reasons, it is perhaps no wonder why the vast majority of his paintings are still wildly open to dispute.

According to some academics, there are at least 40 artworks still in existence which are authentically by the master’s hand. Whereas, in the opinion of many others, there are only 6 paintings at most that we can confidently attribute to him. (The rest - it is claimed - must either be later copies, or perhaps pieces from his assistants who may have taken advantage of their master’s reputation to gain higher price for their work)

But of course, such is the nature of art history that these numbers are constantly subject to change too. And so, in wanting to pay a little homage to this highly important artist today - I must admit, it is always difficult to decide which paintings to feature.

Detail from “Laura” (Portrait of a young bride)- 1506 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna,

When so many works by Giorgione have gone through multiple changes of attribution over the years . . . no doubt, many of these works will be called into question again at some point.

But, from a personal point of view, the little collection of pieces I’ve chosen today seem to me some of the most likely the be bona fide pieces from the hands of the master.

Thus, I hope they will give us all a chance to appreciate Giorgione’s extraordinary talent, and to understand why he managed to leave such an indelible footprint on art History . . . even if the man himself will remain forever out of our reach.

Portrait of a man - otherwise titled “The San Diego” portrait, given it’s current home in the San Diego Museum of Art

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Bonus works (Paid only)

As a little extra feature today, I couldn’t resist adding a few more works which are also believed to be from Giorgione.

Admittedly, these are not quite as confidently attributed as the others above. However, as they also include a tantalizing possibility of a self portrait. . . I really couldn’t resist including them here too.