Marco Marziale
Encyclopedia
Marco Marziale was an Italian painter from Venice
, known to have been active from 1492/1493 to 1507. He was a pupil of Giovanni Bellini
, as stated in some of his inscriptions signing works, and was also influenced by Giovanni's bother Gentile
, with possibly some elements of the style of Perugino also. From January 1493 (old Julian calendar
), when he must have at least completed his training, he was employed by the Republic of Venice
as an assistant to Giovanni Bellini on the Great Council Chamber in the Doge's Palace at a fairly modest salary. These paintings were all lost in the great fire of 1574. In 1493 he joined the confraternity of the Scuola di San Marco
.
In about 1500 he may have moved to Cremona
, which Venice had just taken over in 1499, and which it held until 1509, when the Duchy of Milan
recaptured the city. Marziale would no doubt have been unwelcome after this, if he was in the city. He is not documented there, but painted two altarpieces for Cremonese churches; it is possible these were sent from Venice, although the records of the scuola show him as absent from the city in 1505. In 1507 he signed works now in London and Berlin, after which nothing is known.
Several signed works are known, including the only two large altarpiece
s, both from churches in Cremona and now in the National Gallery, London
. Two versions of the Supper at Emmaus, adapted from a lost work by Giovanni Bellini known from a print, are in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
and the Accademia
in Venice, where there is also a Circumcision of Jesus
in the Museo Correr
, dated 1499. Including unsigned attributed works, there is a probable surviving oeuvre of about a dozen paintings; apart from the wall-paintings lost in 1574, much of his painting may be among the large number of pieces assigned to the workshop of Giovanni Bellini. A small Adoration of the Magi, formerly in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
, and only just attributed as an early work of Marziale's, was sold at Christie's
, New York for $98,500 in January 2009.
He was a rather conservative painter, whose works continued to follow compositional formats from the late 15th century, despite his possibly being only a few years older than Giorgione
and Titian
. His main figures stand upright and still in the older Venetian style, already long superseded in Florentine art. Although his figures are stiff, even "wooden", he takes great interest in textile
s and decor in his works. Both the London altarpieces are set in spaces in front of apse
s decorated with gold mosaic
s in the manner of San Marco, Venice
, and also of altarpieces by Giovanni Bellini. The Circumcision altarpiece features several donor portrait
s of the family of Tommaso Raimondi, the lawyer and poet who commissioned the work; their lavish and fashionable clothes are carefully depicted. In 1872, the English critic John Ruskin
asked a friend in Venice to make a careful drawing of the embroidered table-cloth, probably from Egypt
, depicted in the Correr Circumcision, which Ruskin adapted into a pattern for wallpaper
which he used in the study
of his house Brantwood
in the Lake District
.
In Cremona he influenced, and may have trained, Altobello Melone
.
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, known to have been active from 1492/1493 to 1507. He was a pupil of Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini, and his brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it...
, as stated in some of his inscriptions signing works, and was also influenced by Giovanni's bother Gentile
Gentile Bellini
Gentile Bellini was an Italian painter. From 1474 he was the official portrait artist for the Doges of Venice.- Biography :...
, with possibly some elements of the style of Perugino also. From January 1493 (old Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
), when he must have at least completed his training, he was employed by the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
as an assistant to Giovanni Bellini on the Great Council Chamber in the Doge's Palace at a fairly modest salary. These paintings were all lost in the great fire of 1574. In 1493 he joined the confraternity of the Scuola di San Marco
Scuole Grandi of Venice
The Scuole Grandi were confraternity or sodality institutions in Venice, Italy. They were founded as early as the 13th century as charitable and religious organizations for the laity....
.
In about 1500 he may have moved to Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, which Venice had just taken over in 1499, and which it held until 1509, when the Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
recaptured the city. Marziale would no doubt have been unwelcome after this, if he was in the city. He is not documented there, but painted two altarpieces for Cremonese churches; it is possible these were sent from Venice, although the records of the scuola show him as absent from the city in 1505. In 1507 he signed works now in London and Berlin, after which nothing is known.
Several signed works are known, including the only two large altarpiece
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
s, both from churches in Cremona and now in the National Gallery, London
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
. Two versions of the Supper at Emmaus, adapted from a lost work by Giovanni Bellini known from a print, are in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
The Gemäldegalerie is an art museum in Berlin, Germany. It holds one of the world's leading collections of European art from the 13th to the 18th centuries. It is located on Kulturforum west of Potsdamer Platz. Its collection includes masterpieces from such artists as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas...
and the Accademia
Accademia
The Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th century art in Venice, northern Italy. Situated on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro, it gives its name to one of the three bridges across the canal, the Ponte dell'Accademia, and to the boat landing station for the...
in Venice, where there is also a Circumcision of Jesus
Circumcision of Jesus
The Circumcision of Jesus is an event from the life of Jesus of Nazareth according to the Gospel of Luke, which states in verse 2:21 that Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth...
in the Museo Correr
Museo Correr
The Museo Correr is the civic museum of Venice, located in the Piazza San Marco, and is entered by the ceremonial stairway in the Ala Napoleonica at the western end of the Piazza opposite the church of San Marco at the other end...
, dated 1499. Including unsigned attributed works, there is a probable surviving oeuvre of about a dozen paintings; apart from the wall-paintings lost in 1574, much of his painting may be among the large number of pieces assigned to the workshop of Giovanni Bellini. A small Adoration of the Magi, formerly in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, which opened in 1936.The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, while private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all...
, and only just attributed as an early work of Marziale's, was sold at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
, New York for $98,500 in January 2009.
He was a rather conservative painter, whose works continued to follow compositional formats from the late 15th century, despite his possibly being only a few years older than Giorgione
Giorgione
Giorgione was a Venetian painter of the High Renaissance in Venice, whose career was cut off by his death at a little over thirty. Giorgione is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, though only about six surviving paintings are acknowledged for certain to be his work...
and Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
. His main figures stand upright and still in the older Venetian style, already long superseded in Florentine art. Although his figures are stiff, even "wooden", he takes great interest in textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s and decor in his works. Both the London altarpieces are set in spaces in front of apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
s decorated with gold mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
s in the manner of San Marco, Venice
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
, and also of altarpieces by Giovanni Bellini. The Circumcision altarpiece features several donor portrait
Donor portrait
A donor portrait or votive portrait is a portrait in a larger painting or other work showing the person who commissioned and paid for the image, or a member of his, or her, family...
s of the family of Tommaso Raimondi, the lawyer and poet who commissioned the work; their lavish and fashionable clothes are carefully depicted. In 1872, the English critic John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
asked a friend in Venice to make a careful drawing of the embroidered table-cloth, probably from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, depicted in the Correr Circumcision, which Ruskin adapted into a pattern for wallpaper
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
which he used in the study
Study (room)
A study is a room in a house which is used for paperwork, computer work, or reading. Historically, the study of a house was reserved for use as the private office and reading room of a family father as the formal head of a household, but today studies are generally either used to operate a home...
of his house Brantwood
Brantwood
Brantwood is a country house in Cumbria, England, overlooking Coniston Water. It has been the home of a number of prominent people, including John Ruskin. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to Ruskin...
in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
.
In Cremona he influenced, and may have trained, Altobello Melone
Altobello Melone
Altobello Melone was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.-Biography:He was born in Cremona. His style merges Lombard with Mannerist styles. In Cremona, he encountered the elder Girolamo Romanino. He was commissioned in December of 1516 to fresco the Cathedral of Cremona, work which continued...
.