Venetian Renaissance Painting in the Alte Pinakothek
With approximately 210 works, the Alte Pinakothek holds an important collection of 15th and 16th-century Venetian paintings, including major works by Titian and Tintoretto. For the first time, this collection is now being analysed in detail by a team of art historians, conservators, and scientists. The High Renaissance in Venice saw a revolutionary change in painting, which had a profound influence on the development of European painting: this evolution is one of the central focus points of the research project.
Art theory of the time celebrated the emergence of technical bravura, which gave the impression that artists presented their visions not only with playful ease but also at great speed. Such works of apparent spontaneity and immediacy addressed a suitably sensitized audience that understood the sensual value of an open, painterly style as a necessary part of the creative process and a novel form of expression. As the brushstroke is thus made visible it should be discussed both as a mode of artistic self-fashioning and a challenge for the beholder.
In order to gain a differentiated understanding of the manifold factors that determine how the application and composition of colour changed, it is particularly important to compare and combine art-historical hypotheses and visual impressions with current technologies.
The results of this long-term research project, which is generously funded by the DFG, the Hubert Burda Foundation and the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, will be made available in a comprehensive book publication and in digital form.