"... The year is 1882, the American writer is not yet 40, and the him is Vittore Carpaccio: the painter of the early Renaissance whose narrative cycles of Christian saints decorate churches and confraternities all around the maritime city. James is falling in love with Venice, and writing a first essay in which he gasps before the paintings of Tintoretto and Bellini and whines about the other tourists. ... Not quite so bright these days. With the coming of the 20th century, Venice’s pilgrims and day-trippers gravitated to the fervent, agitated paintings of Titian and Tintoretto — Tintoretto even appeared as a ‘contemporary’ artist in a recent Venice Biennale, holding his own in the white cube. Carpaccio, working half a century earlier, was more Gothic and more uptight. ...”
Vittore Carpaccio, “Saint George and the Dragon” (circa 1504-1507). The artist stars in a survey at the National Gallery of Art. This work, from a narrative cycle that recounts episodes from the lives of the saints, is leaving Italy for the first time.
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