THE EVOLUTION OF LANDSCAPE IN VENETIAN PAINTING, 1475-1525 by James Reynolds Jewitt BA in Art History, Hartwick College, 2006 BA in English, Hartwick College, 2006 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 2009 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2014 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by James Reynolds Jewitt It was defended on April 7, 2014 and approved by C. Drew Armstrong, Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture Kirk Savage, Professor, History of Art and Architecture Jennifer Waldron, Associate Professor, Department of English Dissertation Advisor: Ann Sutherland Harris, Professor Emerita, History of Art and Architecture ii Copyright © by James Reynolds Jewitt 2014 iii THE EVOLUTION OF LANDSCAPE IN VENETIAN PAINTING, 1475-1525 James R. Jewitt, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2014 Landscape painting assumed a new prominence in Venetian painting between the late fifteenth to early sixteenth century: this study aims to understand why and how this happened. It begins by redefining the conception of landscape in Renaissance Italy and then examines several ambitious easel paintings produced by major Venetian painters, beginning with Giovanni Bellini’s (c.1431- 36-1516) St. Francis in the Desert (c.1475), that give landscape a far more significant role than previously seen in comparable commissions by their peers, or even in their own work. After an introductory chapter reconsidering all previous hypotheses regarding Venetian painters’ reputations as accomplished landscape painters, it is divided into four chronologically arranged case study chapters. Three of these focus on the artists identified during their own lifetimes as specialists in landscape painting in northern Italy—Tiziano Vecellio (c.1485-90- 1576), Girolamo Savoldo (fl.1506-48), and Dosso Dossi (c.1486-1542). Working from a more historicized definition of landscape, my study shifts focus from questions of landscape’s origins and status to a more nuanced examination of its function in private residences. Bellini’s St. Francis is considered anew in light of humanist-inspired aesthetics as a precursor to Venetian poesie that celebrated an artistically self-conscious approach to image-making. Titian’s youthful Flight into Egypt (c.1507) is analyzed for the first time in regard to its original presentation in the main reception hall of its patron Andrea Loredan’s palace. Savoldo’s Temptation of St. Anthony (c.1520) is reconsidered, on the basis of unpublished technical analysis, as a document of the artist’s presence in Venice and his adaptation of Flemish landscape to suit the tastes of local iv clients. Finally, a reevaluation of Dosso’s Jupiter Painting Butterflies centering on the landscape and its theoretical implications is proposed. Dosso’s painting of atmospheric phenomena embodies theories published decades later advocating painting’s superiority over sculpture and the painter’s god-like ability to portray all of Nature’s creation. These focused analyses suggest that landscape achieved a new position in Venice from 1475-1525. Ultimately, this dissertation proposes that the goals of virtuoso landscape painting were two-fold: to enhance both the doctrinal message and delight audiences absorbed from a picture. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE...................................................................................................................................viii 1.0 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................1 1.1 THE RENAISSANCE CONCEPTION OF LANDSCAPE...............................5 1.2 GOMBRICH AND THE HUMANIST RECOVERY OF LANDSCAPE........9 1.3 LANDSCAPE’S IMPORTANCE IN VENICE.................................................16 1.4 DISSERTATION STRUCTURE AND SCOPE................................................27 2.0 GIOVANNI BELLINI’S FRICK ST. FRANCIS AND THE HUMANIST POETICS OF QUATTROCENTO LANDSCAPE PAINTING....................................................35 2.1 LANDSCAPE AND POETRY IN FERRARA..................................................43 2.2 CLASSICAL PARADIGMS RENEWED.........................................................48 2.3 THE AESTHETICS OF DEVOTION...............................................................58 2.4 COLLECTING LANDSCAPE POESIE...........................................................66 3.0 RE-VISITING ANDREA LOREDAN’S PORTEGO: THE FIRST DISPLAY CONTEXT FOR TITIAN’S FLIGHT INTO EGYPT....................................................71 3.1 ANDREA LOREDAN’S PATRONAGE AND THE CA’ LOREDAN...........80 3.2 THE VENETIAN PORTEGO AND ITS CONTENTS.....................................84 3.3 SAFE ARRIVAL AND RETREAT IN THE PORTEGO.................................90 4.0 IMITATION AND INNOVATION: GIROLAMO SAVOLDO’S BOSCHIAN TEMPTATION OF ST. ANTHONY................................................................................97 vi 4.1 SAVOLDO’S ACTIVITY TO 1530.................................................................102 4.2 PROVENANCE.................................................................................................105 4.3 SAVOLDO’S FIRST LANDSCAPE PAINTING...........................................107 4.4 SAVOLDO’S TECHNIQUE AND SOURCES...............................................111 4.5 GRIMANI’S BOSCHIAN TRIPTYCH TRANSFORMED..........................116 4.6 LANDSCAPE EXOTICA IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS............................122 5.0 PAINTING THE PARAGONE: DOSSO DOSSI’S JUPITER PAINTING BUTTERFLIES AS AN ALLEGORY OF PITTURA.................................................130 5.1 JUPITER AS DEUS ARTIFEX........................................................................138 5.2 PAINTING TEMPESTS...................................................................................141 5.3 UNIVERSALITY AND LANDSCAPE............................................................144 5.4 DOSSO AS LANDSCAPIST.............................................................................145 5.5 THE PARAGONE..............................................................................................148 5.6 COLORE AND LANDSCAPE PAINTING.....................................................158 5.7 “COLORE METEOROLOGICO”.....................................................................163 6.0 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................169 7.0 EPILOGUE........................................................................................................179 APPENDIX A. LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................185 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................192 vii PREFACE I am grateful to the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, for the generous support I received over the course of my graduate career. In particular, I would like to thank my dissertation committee for their invaluable feedback, support, and encouragement of my work and project: Ann Sutherland Harris, Jennifer Waldron, Drew Armstrong, and Kirk Savage. Their comments have been invaluable for shaping it into what it is today. Dennis Looney kindly served as an unofficial fifth member and I wish to express my gratitude to him for both stepping in at key moments and offering, as always, exceptional insights into the nuances of Italian literature and culture. As my advisor, Ann Harris deserves special thanks and recognition. This dissertation developed in response to her course on European landscape painting I took my first semester as a graduate student. Ann has gone above and beyond to help me in formulating my PhD topic and furthering my professional development. My two article publications thus far are indebted to her admirable example as a scholar. She has tirelessly encouraged my writing, read drafts, and provided keen feedback every step of the way. I also appreciate the continual encouragement of Jen Waldron, who graciously lent her expertise at several crucial moments. I am also grateful to Kirk Savage and Drew Armstrong for their enthusiasm for my project and kind advice. Early on, Kathleen Christian offered essential inspiration and suggestions as I developed my ideas. Additionally, I would like to thank others at the University of Pittsburgh for their friendship and assistance in this process: my graduate colleagues Aaron Tacinelli, Saskia Beranek, Courtney viii Long, Amy Cymbala, Rachel Miller, and Sara Sumpter; the staff of the Frick Fine Arts Library, particularly Marcia Rostek; and the staff in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Natalie Swabb, Linda Hicks, and Veronica Gazdik. Over the course of my graduate career, and especially in the writing and research done in preparation of this dissertation, I received generous funding from a number of sources. I wish to thank the Centro Vittore Branca of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, in particular Marta Zoppetti and Massimo Busetto; the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; the Friends of the Frick Fine Arts/Wilkinson Travel Fund; the Newberry Renaissance Consortium; and the University Center for International Studies/European Union Center for Excellence at the University of