Giovanni Bellini: Crossed Influences

The Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris brings together more than 50 works by Bellini and his contemporaries for this display, which traces the many influences on Bellini’s practice throughout his career. The early training Bellini received from his father, the artist Jacopo Bellini, is explored through works such as The Annunciation and Birth of the Virgin (both 1453); believed to be collaborations between Jacopo, Giovanni, and Giovanni’s older brother Gentile, both feature the elongated figures characteristic of Jacopo’s style. Other works, such as Virgin and Child (c. 1475–80), reveal a debt to the Florentine sculptor Donatello, whose work was a great source of inspiration to both Bellini and Andrea Mantegna, his brother-in-law. Mocking of Noah (c. 1515), among the final works Bellini completed before he died, is also included in the show. Find out more on the Jacquemart-André website.

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Dead Christ supported by two angels (c. 1475), Giovanni Bellini. Photo: © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie/Christoph Schmidt – CC BY-NC-SA 4.0