Lives of Giovanni Bellini (Lives of the Artists)

This palm-sized book might be mistaken for a gift book, or stocking-filler, but it's much more substantial and readable than that. It collects the entries by Vasari and Ridolfi in each's books of artist's lives, one written decades after Bellini's death; the other more than a century later, and very reliant on Vasari, even duplicating some of his errors. There is also Boschini's verse homage to Bellini, mostly dealing with the San Giobbe altarpiece, and the famous correspondence between Isabella d'Este and her representatives and Bellini himself. These latter letters are often mentioned but it's entertaining to read them, and track Isabella's mounting impatience with Bellini ever producing the painting she's paid a deposit for. Eventually he agrees to paint a Nativity, but then she says she wants it to include John the Baptist! And at one point she excuses herself from providing the measurements for the space a painting is to fill by saying she couldn't stay in Mantua long enough to measure up because the plague had broken out. Good excuse! The Vasari and Boschini excerpts are the meat of the book, though, made even more valuable by the notes detailing errors and the present whereabouts of works mentioned. An essential little treat for Venetian art buffs and Bellini fans.A FictionalCities review.

livre intéressant en anglais grâce aux points de vue différents sur l'artiste mais surpris quant au format j'espérais un beau livre c'est un tout petit opuscule je ne connaissais pas la collection voilà ce que c'est d'acheter sur internet sans précautions cela dit je ne regrette pas cet achat de belles reproductions et le texte