The Barbarigo Altarpiece or ''Enthroned Madonna and Child with Angel Musicians and

Saint Mark Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Accor ...

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

and Doge

Agostino Barbarigo Agostino Barbarigo (3 June 1419 – 20 September 1501) was Doge of Venice from 1486 until his death in 1501. While he was Doge, the imposing Clock Tower in the Piazza San Marco with its archway through which the street known as the Merceria le ...

'' is a 1488 (dated on the throne) oil painting on panel by

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father ...

, now in the church of San Pietro Martire in

Murano Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 (2004 figures). It is famous for its glass making. It was on ...

. Its commission is unusually well-documented for a work by Bellini. Uniquely Agostino Barbarigo had taken over from his brother Marco Barbarigo as

doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

. Marco and Agostino were not on good terms and Agostino was even suspected of killing his brother. To quell these rumours, Agostino began commissioning works promoting himself as the heir to and loyal supporter of his brother's work. These included

St Mark's Clocktower The Clock Tower in Venice is an early Renaissance building on the north side of the Piazza San Marco, at the entrance to the Merceria. It comprises a tower, which contains the clock, and lower buildings on each side. It adjoins the eastern end ...

(Torre dell'Orologio) from

Mauro Codussi Mauro Codussi (1440–1504) was an Italian architect of the early- Renaissance, active mostly in Venice. The name is also rendered as ''Coducci''. He was one of the first to bring the classical style of the early renaissance to Venice to replace ...

, and at the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

, the monumental steps (Scala dei Giganti) from the brothers

Marco Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

and

Pietro Lombardo Monument of the Doge Pietro Mocenigo 1481 :''Pietro Lombardo is also the Italian version of the name of the theologian Peter Lombard.'' Pietro Lombardo (1435–1515) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect; born in Carona (Ticino), he ...

, and a new wing reaching towards the Rio. He also privately commissioned a majestic funeral monument for Marco and himself in and commissioned Bellini twice, first to produce the official portrait of Marco for the Sala del Maggior Consiglio (1486–87) and then to produce a "large panel", as his

ex-voto An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude o ...

for the

Ex-voto

In Venice it became the custom in the Renaissance for the higher officials, beginning with the

Doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

, to commission (at their personal expense) an ex-voto painting in the form of a portrait of themselves with religious figures, usually the Virgin or saints, in thanks for achieving their office. For lower officials only their coat of arms might represent the official. The painting was hung in the public building where they worked or presided. Aspects of the picture hint at what many contemporaries saw as the excessive self-aggrandizement of the Barberigo brothers. Rather being presented to the Virgin and Child by his name-saint Augustine, as was usual, the Doge is presented by Saint Mark, patron saint of the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, as well as Marco Barberigo. Instead of looking towards the Child, the Doge looks out towards the Venetians passing the painting. There was opposition to hanging it in the Doge's Palace, which may be why Barberigo instead bequeathed it to a convent (so probably saving it from a later fire). Before this it apparently hung in his home, the

Palazzo Barbarigo Nani Mocenigo Palazzo Barbarigo Nani Mocenigo is a Gothic palace in Venice, Italy located in the Dorsoduro district, along the Nani embankment on the San Trovaso river, near the campo of the same name. History The palace dates back to the 15th century and was ...

(which survives; not the

Palazzo Barbarigo Palazzo Barbarigo is a palace situated facing the Grand Canal of Venice, Italy. It is not to be confused with the Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto and Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza, both also on the Grand Canal, and other palazzi, and several villas ...

). Mariolina Olivari, Giovanni Bellini, in AA. VV., Pittori del Rinascimento, Scala, Firenze 2007. In 1501, already dying, Agostino left the canvas to the nunnery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Murano to be its high altarpiece, but it was soon moved from there (to make room for

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

's ''Annunciation'') to San Pietro Martire.

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

mentioned it as being in

San Michele di Murano San Michele in Isola is a Roman Catholic church, located on the Isola di San Michele, a small islet sited between Venice and Murano, which once sheltered a Camaldolese monastery ( it, Monastero di S. Michele di Murano), but now houses the main cem ...

but probably mistook it for another Bellini work, now lost, which was already in the Cappella della Santissima Croce in the church of the

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona ( la, Congregatio Eremitarum Camaldulensium Montis Coronae), commonly called Camaldolese is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermita ...

Notes

References

*Ruggiero, Guido, ''The Renaissance in Italy: A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento'', 2014, Cambridge University Press, , 9780521895200
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{{Giovanni Bellini 1488 paintings Paintings by Giovanni Bellini Votive offering