The Transfiguration

Period: 
1480-1548

Artist: Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo

Room: 
34- Veronese Room; 
Uffizi Gallery

Medium: Oil on Wood

Dimensions: 139x126 

Originally in the Del Sera Collection in Venice; at the Uffizi since 1798. The Transfiguration painted by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo is located in the Veronese room (34) within the Uffice Gallery in Florence, Italy. It was originally located in the del Sera collection in Venice, but was moved to the Uffice Gallery in 1798. The Transfiguration is oil on wood. The painting is 139cm by 126cm and is a depiction of a New Testament theme from the Christian Bible.

Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo was an Italian mannerism painter during the high Renaissance. He was born in 1480 in the town of Brescia where he grew up. Most of his work was done in Venice, but some of his work was also recorded in Milan and Parma. He was recorded entering a painters guild in Venice in 1508 and was heavily influenced by Venetian art. We can see that he might have been influenced by artists such as Titian and Lorenzo Lotto. This can be seen in his use of vibrant colors and expressive textures throughout his works. He also uses a nice balance of light and dark within his painting helping the viewers find the important images on the page.

He is mostly known for his night painting, but has also painted portraits of men and women. For example, in 1515 he painted a portrait of a clad warrior. A great many of his painting are religious in nature. He has painted New Testament images as well as images of the saints. In 1533 he is recorded having painted an altar piece for the church of St. Domenico in modern day Milan. His most well known painting that plays with the contrast of light and dark is the painting of “Mary Magdalene Approaching the Sepulchre”. Savoldo’s Tranfiguration also does a wonderful job of showing the contrast of light and dark as well. Christ within the painting is the brightest part of the painting while it fades and gets darker as it moves away from Christ.  He used Mannerism and Realism to depict the accurate psychological portrayal of the people within the painting (termartors).

Some sources say that he studied at the Medici’s academy in Florence.  There is not much known about this artist, as much of his life is not documented. “Pietro Aretina described Savoldo as ‘decrepit’ in 1548 which after he was never heard from again”(termartors). While they don’t know his exact date of death, the art world seems to suspect he died in 1548 after there were no more records of paintings and he became a mystery.

There is no guarantee to the inspiration of his paintings, but we can see that many of his techniques were similar to other painters of the High Renaissance. His use of vibrant color and contrast makes his paintings wonderful to view. He uses a religious painting and captures the emotion which causes a connection to be made between the painting and the observer. His paintings are “lyrical” and hold life within the brush strokes. Savoldo, while not an extremely famous painter  was created to inspire other amazing painters to come after him, Correggio for example being one of them. He was truly a one hit wonder in the high Renaissance of painting.

Bibliography

"Transfiguration - Savoldo, Giovanni Girolamo - Renaissance (High Italian, "Cinquecento") - Oil on Wood - New Testament - TerminArtors." Welcome to the World's Largest Artist, Artwork and Museum Database! - TerminArtors. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. <http://www.terminartors.com/artworkprofile/Savoldo_Giovanni_Girolamo-Transfiguration>.

"Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo ~ Biography." Virtual Uffizi Gallery. Uffizi Gallery. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://www.virtualuffizi.com/biography/Giovanni-Girolamo-Savoldo.htmGiovanni%20Girolamo%20Savoldo>.