\paperw3900 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 The superceding of Byzantine culture, deeply rooted in the Venetian artistic tradition of the Trecento and the work of Paolo Veneziano
in particular, came chiefly through the efforts of \b \cf4 \ATXht1158 Lorenzo Veneziano\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , a painter active in the third quarter of the fourteenth century who introduced a greater concern for naturalism into his compositions and bestowed
a more solid and sculptural character on his figures.\par
Later it was \b \cf4 \ATXht1148 Giovanni Bellini\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 who led Venetian painting away from the tired formulas of the local late-Gothic style toward the more modern language of the Rena
issance. Initially influenced by his brother-in-law Mantegna, whose highly sculptural forms he adopted, he went on to renew this manner through his contact with the works of Antonello da Messina, and opened up a new direction in art, that of ôtonal paint
ing,ö which would later be followed by the greatest Venetian painters of the sixteenth century.\par
Antonello da Messina also had a decisive influence on artists in Veneto, like \b \cf4 \ATXht1154 Bartolommeo Montagna \b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and \b \cf4 \ATXht1157 Cima da Conegliano\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 . Both of them came from the mainland but then moved to Venice and worked in close collaboration with Giovanni Bellini himself. Echoes of the art of Albrecht Dⁿrer, the great German painter and engraver who visited V
enice several times between the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth, are to be found instead in the works of \b \cf4 \ATXht1156 Marco Marziale\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , also trained in the workshop of the Bellini family.\par
Giorgion
e is the painter who marks the turning point between the Venetian painting of the Quattrocento and that of the following century. Breaking with the representative conventions of the Renaissance, he experimented with the possibilities of reproducing natur
al phenomena in painting and began research into a new mode of representing space, based on light and atmosphere.\par
\b \cf4 \ATXht1150 Sebastiano del Piombo\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 was a direct follower of Giorgione, though he managed to impart a more accent
uated and constructive plasticity to his masterÆs style. A fundamental push in this direction came from his subsequent stay in Rome and study of the works of Michelangelo, which prompted him to seek highly sculptural effects and violent tonalities.\par
Another artist influenced by the painting of Giorgione and Titian was \b \cf4 \ATXht1149 Palma il Vecchio\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 . Devoting himself chiefly to the theme of the \i Sacra Conversazione\i0 , he showed a tendency to dilate forms and simplify colors,
in order to achieve effects of placid calm and serene grace. These features can also be found to some extent in the painting of \b \cf4 \ATXht1155 Vincenzo Catena\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , who was a follower of Giovanni Bellini but also open to the influence of
Giorgione and Palma il Vecchio.\par
Conversely, a sharp contrast to the work of Giorgione and Titian and the courtly language of sixteenth-century classicism is provided by \b \cf4 \ATXht1151 Lorenzo Lotto\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , an artist from Veneto but mu
ch closer in his style to the naturalism of Lombardian painting. He still paid great attention to ônatural light,ö the solidity of bodies and the definition of the form and character of his figures, studied with unprecedented psychological insight.\par
In the second half of the Cinquecento Venetian painting too came under the influence of Tusco-Roman Mannerism. Veronese looked back to the origins of Venetian painting and restored color to its primary function of natural splendor, finding a new fullness
and serenity of form. Yet in his use of extreme foreshortening and consequent deformation of the human figure and in the at times unnatural quality of the lighting we can recognize, even in his painting, the signs of an adherence to the intellectual app
roach of the Mannerists. These elements are still more evident and consciously adopted in the work of \b \cf4 \ATXht1152 Tintoretto\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , who showed a preference for animated compositions in precarious equilibrium and daringly twisted figures
, creating highly dramatic scenes with strong contrasts of light and shade.\par
An artist influenced by Venetian painting and, in particular, the example set by Titian was the Dutchman \b \cf4 \ATXht1153 Anthonis Mor\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , who was in Italy a
round the middle of the century. An exquisite portrait painter, his discovery of Titian led him to adopt a courtly style, but one that was still attentive to the character and mood of his subjects.
