Rerepainting Bellini

August 31, 2009 7:25 PM

Investigating Bellini's Feast of the Gods takes apart the layers of Feast of the Gods, painted by Giovanni Bellini, repainted by Dosso Dossi, and repainted again by Tiziano Vecellio--that is, Titian. Visitors can see the results of x-rays and other imaging techniques, view the painting's changing context in the Duke of Ferrara's gallery, and examine details in close-up.

For further adventures in x-radiography, among other techniques in art conservation, try the following:

• John Hayls' A Portrait of a Lady and a Boy with Pan (Tate)
• Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (MoMA)
• Understanding Picasso Through Conservation (Cleveland Museum of Art)
• A nativity by Jacopo Tintoretto (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
• A "missing" painting by Vincent Van Gogh (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
• Some examples from the Victoria & Albert Museum
• Uncovering Watteau (Art Institute of Chicago)
• An illustration concealed under another work by N. C. Wyeth (U. of Delaware)

posted by thomas j wise (9 comments total)

That's a splendid website (I teach art history and sometimes try to explain technical analysis and it's hard without good visuals)! Thanks!
posted by Capybara at 8:01 PM on August 31, 2009

That was fascinating, thank you!
posted by interrobang at 8:04 PM on August 31, 2009

Oh man, seriously cool.
posted by strixus at 8:40 PM on August 31, 2009

I don't think Dosso painted that pheasant.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 1:17 AM on September 1, 2009

@Capybara or anyone else who can answwer this - Isn't 'Art History' really just cultural history? --- A way to get at historical trends that aren't properly apreciable or demonstratrable by the bookish historians? Shouldn't Art Historians reightly be regarded as anthropologists?

(Given my definition, it's sort of unfortunate that it allows cultural history to be skewed by the taste of a handful of wealthy patrons, but I guess that's just the way of human civilization...)

And thanks for the post! -- It's invigorated some semi-dormant brain cells.
posted by vhsiv at 4:39 AM on September 1, 2009

Neat stuff. I wrote an article on this very painting once, but haven't thought about it for many years. Thanks, TJ.
posted by rokusan at 5:33 AM on September 1, 2009

"Isn't 'Art History' really just cultural history?"

No, because in Art History you look at the techniques used to create a painting, the actual craft of the artist as well, which is about pigment technology, styles such as sfumato etc, and composition, and really doesn't relate to culture except as an anchor in time and place.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 7:55 AM on September 1, 2009

That's an impressive website. Nice find!
posted by Quietgal at 9:58 AM on September 1, 2009

This is great. One curious thing is that in reconstructing the Dosso version they don't seem to have used the buildings which they pointed out as visible through Titian's sky.
posted by Phanx at 1:49 PM on September 1, 2009