Site of the Day for Thursday, July 7, 2011 Investigating Bellini's Feast of the Gods Today's site, from the online museum, WebExhibits, presents a fascinating exhibition exploring one of the brilliant paintings of the Renaissance, which has been the subject of much speculation over the centuries. Gentle Subscribers will discover, through the efforts of modern technology, some of the answers to questions which have surrounded Bellini's Feast of the Gods. "Around 1512, the Duke of Ferrara commissioned Giovanni Bellini to paint this masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, which now hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Dosso Dossi ... in 1522, painted over half of Bellini's canvas. Seven years later, Titian repainted the Feast of the Gods again. What did the earlier versions look like? How much of each artist's work do we see today? What motivated these unprecedented changes? ... We've drawn upon the knowledge of experts in the field to create both a broad overview and detailed information about the topic." - from the website To place Bellini's painting in perspective, this superbly designed exhibit offers an informative overview of the Italian Renaissance. Noting the advances in painting, and the artistic rivalry among the rulers of the great city-states, the Background section includes details on the court of Duke Alfonso, along with music of the period from the Ferrara region. Moving on to an Analysis of the painting, the exhibit explores artists' styles, the use of x-rays and infrared, paint samples and an examination of the work through the use of clever graphics, while the Deconstruction features an ingenious illumination of the painting in its various forms. Concluding sections display masterpieces from Duke Alfonso's gallery and visual notations on the pigments used in the painting. Stride to the site to explore an outstanding exhibit on the Feast of the Gods at: http://www.webexhibits.org/feast/ A.M. Holm <amholm@xxxxxxxxxxx> Manage your subscription and view the List archives on the web at: <//www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/webpage?webpage_id=sotd> and <//www.freelists.org/archives/sotd> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to sotd-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with unsubscribe in the Subject field.