art in venice, 1400–1600 783
From approximately 1460 onwards, work based on models from antiq-
uity (all’antiqua) was repeatedly requested in contracts with the taglia-
pietra. And after 1469, even illuminators gave preference to a repertoire
of forms that evoked antiquity. the artists determined which antiques
they used and which works they chose as standards. the works of the
Lombardos, especially tullio and Antonio, and later the busts of Simone
Bianco (1512–33), were prized for their similarity to works of antiquity.
nevertheless, measures of artistic quality were not solely determined
by classical standards. An entirely different interpretation of the human
figure is depicted in the representations of Adam and eve by Antonio
rizzo from the Arco Foscari (about 1470, today in the palace) and by tul-
lio’s Adam from the tomb of the Doge Andrea Vendramin (died 1474) in
SS. Giovanni e Paolo (new York, the Metropolitan Museum). rizzo
depicted the body of his model along with its peculiarities; his conception
came closer to that of the young Giovanni Bellini’s than to that of Andrea
Mantegna. rizzo’s expressive faces reflect complex emotions; tullio, in
contrast, usually formed ideally beautiful women and children whose ele-
giac gazes were reminiscent of models of antiquity. this conception, close
to nature and giving free rein to the emotions, also contributed to the
impact of monumental burial groups as they are preserved in the emilia
and were realized by Guido Mazzoni S. Antonio di castello in 1489 (frag.
in the Museo civico, Padua).
Antiques, such as those Jacopo Bellini depicted in his Parisian sketch-
book (Louvre), dominate works of illumination by artists such as the
anonymous Master of the Plinius of Ravenna and the Maestro dei Putti.
connections to the repertoire of stonemasons who were active on the
east façade of the court and in the Scala dei Giganti of the Doge’s Palace
are evident. Miniatures from the 1470s, like those from 1476 by Jacometto
Veneziano, suggest the study of works from the sphere of Pietro Lombardo.
the arabesque, knot, and floral ornamentations show similarities with the
painted decoration of Gothic churches. illuminated pages by Girolamo da
cremona (est. 1451–83) and by Benedetto Bordon (1488–1530) were the
highpoint of this art. thereafter, Venetian book illustration, which even in
later times was valued in more than just official documents, lost artistic
importance in the face of competition from the printing press with its
printed illustrations.
Antonio rizzo was not alone in his mastery of the extremely flat
depth of field, like the simulated relief of the painted picture. in his Vite,
1568, Vasari described this technique as schiacciato [compressed], and