Life of the Virgin (Carpaccio)

Life of the Virgin is a cycle of six large canvases by Vittore Carpaccio, dating to between 1504 and 1508. Originally painted for the sala dell'Albergo in the Scuola di Santa Maria degli Albanesi in Venice, they are now split between several museums. They are mostly in oil, though some of them are in mixed technique.

History edit

Whilst still working on paintings for the Scuola degli Schiavoni, Carpaccio was summoned by their rivals the Scuola degli Albanesi to produce a cycle on the Life of the Virgin, joint patron saint of their confraternity with saint Gall. The confraternity later passed to the Pistori (i.e. the bakers) but was suppressed in 1808 during the Napoleonic occupation and all its furnishings and paintings sold off and split up, including the Life of the Virgin cycle.

List edit

Image Year Title Measurements Museum Notes
  Unknown Nativity 128×137 cm Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
  1505 Presentation in the Temple 130x137 cm Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
  1505 Miracle of the Flowering Wand or Betrothal 130x140 cm Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
  1504 Annunciation 130x140 cm Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice
  Unknown Visitation 130x140 cm Galleria Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice
  Unknown Death 130x141 cm Galleria Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice


Bibliography edit

  • (in Italian) Francesco Valcanover, Vittore Carpaccio, in AA. VV., Pittori del Rinascimento, Scala, Firenze 2007. ISBN 88-8117-099-X
  • (in Italian) AA. VV., Brera, guida alla pinacoteca, Electa, Milano 2004. ISBN 978-88-370-2835-0

External links edit