Giovanni Bellini "In a New Light: Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert"
The Frick Collection
This event has ended.
One of the most beloved paintings at The Frick Collection, St. Francis in the Desert (c. 1480) by Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516) is also a deeply enigmatic masterpiece. The artist has imagined this medieval saint alone in a stony wilderness, stepping forward from his simple shelter into a golden light that seems to transfigure him spiritually. His experience is reflected by the surrounding landscape: a laurel tree at upper left bends and glows, the cool blue rocks behind the saint shimmer, and a nearby donkey and rabbit listen in anticipation. For centuries, viewers of Bellini’s painting have puzzled over the meaning of the episode represented here and have sought explanations in a rich variety of pictorial and textual sources. Until recently, however, the artist’s practical conception and realization of this extraordinary vision have remained largely unexplored.
In March and April 2010, St. Francis underwent a detailed technical examination in the Department of Paintings Conservation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The picture will be displayed in the Oval Room, accompanied by documentation and an explanation of the new findings — and the questions they raise. This project is coordinated by the Frick’s Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow Susannah Rutherglen in conjunction with curators and conservators at the Frick and the Metropolitan Museum.
[Image: Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516), St. Francis in the Desert, c. 1480, tempera and oil onpanel, 49 x 55 7⁄8 inches, The Frick Collection, New York]
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Schedule
from May 22, 2011 to August 28, 2011