A brief guide to Early Renaissance painting in Venice

Two major works by Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1460/65–1525/26) are in the collection of the Staatsgalerie and are now on display, freshly restored:

The monumental altarpiece ‘Saint Thomas Aquinas with Saints Mark and Louis of Toulouse’ (1507) demonstrates how Carpaccio draws on pictorial ideas from the Bellini workshop whilst experimenting with new, narratively compelling compositions.

In contrast, the ‘Martyrdom of Saint Stephen’ (1520) from the cycle commissioned by the Brotherhood of Saint Stephen in Venice illustrates the fascination that the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean exerted on Carpaccio and his contemporaries.

Giovanni Bellini (c. 1435–1516) and the painters of his workshop were renowned, among other things, for their depictions of the Madonna. They created countless works featuring this motif, which always differed in small details, as is clearly evident in the example shown here.

This Mediaguide tour was produced in 2024 for the major exhibition of the State of Baden-Württemberg, ‘Carpaccio, Bellini and the Early Renaissance in Venice’, held at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart from 15 November 2024 to 2 March 2025.

The exhibition juxtaposed some of Vittore Carpaccio’s most important paintings with selected works by Giovanni Bellini. The presentation was complemented by works by other artists active in Venice between 1465 and 1525, including Gentile Bellini and Lorenzo Lotto.

Featuring 55 paintings and works on paper, including outstanding loans from Venice, Florence, Washington and Frankfurt am Main, the exhibition demonstrated how Carpaccio established himself as one of the most successful artists of the early Renaissance in Venice through his highly original painting style.

Of the original 19 stops on the audio tour for the exhibition, 3 stops featuring works from the collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart are republished here.

More about the exhibition