Tip: move over the painting to use the lens.

Madonna and Child

Artist: Giovanni Bellini Italian, Venice, 1424/26–1516 Venice
Date: late 1480s
Medium: Oil on wood
Size: 35 x 28 in. (88.9 x 71.1 cm)
Where to see it: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rogers Fund, 1908 · CC0 Public Domain · The Met · see it at the museum ↗

Slow Look

The whole picture Let your eyes wander. Where do they want to rest?
The light Find the brightest spot. What is it showing you?
The edges Look at what is half cut off at the borders.
One small detail Choose one tiny thing and stay with it for a while.
The whole picture again Step back. Has it changed for you?

About Giovanni Bellini

Giovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, but now that familial generational relationship is questioned. An older brother or perhaps nephew, Gentile Bellini, was more highly regarded than Giovanni during his lifetime, but the reverse is true today. His brother-in-law was Andrea Mantegna.

Painter profile →