Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516), was a Venetian Renaissance painter,
probably the best known of the Bellini family of painters. His father was
Jacopo Bellini and his brother was Gentile Bellini.
Biography
His focus was on religious subjects, rather than the increasing popular
classical subject matter. His work shows the influence of Andrea Mantegna,
who became his brother-in-law in 1454. His most important contribution to
art lay in his experimentation with the use of color and atmosphere in oil
painting. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting,
moving it towards a more "sensuous and colouristic style".
Through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, Giovanni created deep,
rich colors and detailed shadings. His sumptuous coloring and fluent,
atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on Venetian painting school,
especially on his pupils. He worked on historical paintings for the Doges'
Palace from 1479 until his death.
His work includes the Altarpiece with St Vincent Ferrar (1464) in SS.
Giovanni e Paolo, decoration of the Scuola Grande di San Marco (1470s) in
conjunction with his brother Gentile, the portrait of Doge Leonardo
Loredan (c. 1501), S. Zaccaria Altarpiece (1505) and The Feast of the Gods
(c. 1514) painted for the study of Alfonso d'Este.
Bellini was also essential to the development of the Italian Renaissance
for his incorporation of Northern Renaissance aesthetics. Significantly
impacted by Antonello da Messina, who had spent time in Flanders, Bellini
made prevalent both the use of oil painting, different than the tempera
painting being used at the time by most Italian Renaissance painters, and
the use of disguised symbolism integral to the Northern Renaissance. As
demonstrated in such works as St. Francis in Ecstasy (c.1480-1485) and the
San Giobbe Altarpiece (c. 1478), Bellini makes use of religous symbolism
through natural elements, such as grapevines and rocks.
His most famous pupils were Giorgione and Titian.
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It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Italian Renaissance".