Paintings of summer storms from the dawn of landscape art and Giorgione, through Poussin and Vernet, to Palmer and Constable.
Giorgione
The Renaissance provided the tools of realist painting, but remained largely bound to religious and mythical motifs. Seventy years later, many new genres had appeared.
Giorgione’s Tempest, Cuyp’s Thunderstorm over Dordrecht, Delacroix, a prairie on fire, and viewing lightning safely indoors.
The Roman goddess Minerva, the Greek statesman Solon, King Solomon, the three Magi, a ‘philosopher’ of Enlightenment, a scientist with a microscope, and the School of Athens.
How repoussoir originated in figurative painting, and came to become a popular compositional technique for landscapes from Giorgione to Turner.
Related optical effects that combine to give the impression of depth. Explored in Renaissance paintings, and some from the 19th century.
Paintings by Giorgione, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Elisabetta Sirani, Goya, Horace Vernet, Jules Lefebvre, Klimt, Kolo Moser, and Franz von Stuck.
From Bellini in 1496, through Canaletto, to JMW Turner in 1840, views of Piazza San Marco in Venice.
Cameo views of landscapes were common practice during the Renaissance, and also had value in locating the primary view.
The popular story of the Judgement of Solomon is a great challenge for visual art. Here are some of the better attempts at solution, from Raphael to Blake.
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