Realising that In The Age of Giorgione closes tomorrow, we spent the morning in it. A few comments. The astonishing generosity of the lenders, particularly the Royal Collection and the Accademia. The complexities of attribution, beyond the Terris portrait, which has an inscription ascribing it to Giorgione. The fact that after more than a century of post-Morellian discussion and debate around attribution, there is no more certainty than when Berenson decided to dedicate his life to its study. The tension between the influence of Durer who visited Venice in 1505 and described Bellini as ‘still the best’ and the influence of Leonardo who had visited a few years earlier. The extraordinary realism and poignancy, particularly in the eyes, of La Vecchia, which I had not realised was described in a sixteenth-century inventory as a portrait of Giorgione’s mother. Hard to imagine the range of works in the exhibition ever being easily repeated.
It is indeed a brilliant exhibition : the first room in particular is amazing. Thank you. Another way in which the Academy is leading the way. Congratulations !
It was a glorious show. One of the best.
A wonderful exhibition, the sort we now depend on the RA for. All the more enjoyable for the lack of certainty over who painted what (although, if I may, I thought it a shame that the wall labels understated the uncertainty – perhaps presenting the general visitor with too fixed a view of attribution?)