Vittore Carpaccio
Vittore
Carpaccio was born around
the year 1460 near Venice, Italy. They didn’t keep
birth records then, so
this date is an estimate. Vittore knew from a very young
age that he wanted
to be a painter when he was older. He couldn’t pay
attention in school
because he was always drawing or sketching on his papers. As
a young man,
Carpaccio was greatly influenced by two Venetian painters. These
two painters
were Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini. Carpaccio was influenced
greatly
by these artists, but he also admired the work of other artists of
the
Venitian art period. Carpaccio used four cycles of paintings; each of
these
cycles was used to tell a story. However, only the first two of these
cycles
have become well known. Carpaccio did the first of these cycles
between 1490 and
1495. This cycle consisted of nine large paintings. One
of these paintings,
named The Legend of Saint Ursula, is considered by most
people to be his finest
work. Especially original is the painting Dream of
Saint Ursula. Vittore
completed the second cycle of his paintings between the
years 1502 and 1507.
This cycle also consists of nine scenes. These
scenes are mainly from the lives
of Saint George and Saint Jerome. The two
best known paintings of this cycle are
titled Saint George Slaying the Dragon
and Saint Jerome in His Study. Even tough
Carpaccio was greatly
influenced by other artists of his time; he still had a
style that was
different than everyone else. He seemed to use the colors black,
red and
brown more than other colors. He also put exotic animals or objects
from
faraway lands in many of his paintings. He also was very good with
architecture
and knew how to paint buildings so they looked real. Some of
Vittore’s other
widely known paintings include: "A Saint Reading" and "Virgin
and
Child." Even though he isn’t as famous as some other artists are;
Carpaccio
was one of the greatest artists of the early Renaissance in Europe.
He may not
be the greatest drawer ever, but that isn’t what makes him great.
What makes
him great is how he uses color in his paintings. His colors are
always bright
and vivid, and his lighting effects are
brilliant.
Bibliography
"Carpaccio, Vittore." Microsoft Encarta
Encyclopedia. Copyright
1994. Microsoft Corporation. Gerten, C. "Bio:
Vittore Carpaccio." 1997.
Online. http://sunsite.auc.dk/cgfa
/carpaccio/carpaccio_bio.htm.
3/16/00.