Antonio Vivarini

Life

He initially trained with Andrea da Murano, and his works show the influence of Gentile da Fabriano. The earliest known date of a picture of his, an altar-piece in the Accademia is 1440; the latest, in the Vatican Museums, 1464, but he appears to have been alive in 1470.

He collaborated with his brother-in-law, Giovanni d'Alemagna (also known as "Joannes de Alemania"), who sometimes has been regarded as a brother (Giovanni of Murano). There is no trace of this painter after 1447. From then on, Antonio painted either alone or together with his younger brother Bartolommeo in Padua. The works of Antonio are well drawn for their epoch, with a certain noticeable degree of softness, and with good flesh and other tints. He was probably influenced by Mantegna, and worked with him in the Ovetari Chapel in 1450–51. It is sometimes difficult to assign authorship for works from the Vivarini studio.

Three of his principal paintings are the Enthroned Madonna Virgin with the Four Doctors of the Church, the Coronation of the Virgin and Saints Peter and Jerome. The first two (in which Giovanni participated) are in the Venetian academy, the third in the National Gallery, London.

Though Alvise developed an interest in spatial coherence and solid form towards the end of the century, the Vivarini workshop, overall, continued to embody a traditional Gothic-influenced approach for much longer.

References

References

1. John Steer. "Vivarini." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 10 Mar. 2016
2. Miller, S. E... (25 November 2015). "The Word made Visible in the Painted Image: Perspective, Proportion, Witness and Threshold in Italian Renaissance Painting". Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
3. {{EB1911. William Michael. Rossetti
4. Richardson, Carol M.. (1 January 2007). "Locating Renaissance Art". Yale University Press.