Description of the picture:
Pieta – Giovanni (Giambellino) Bellini. Around 1505. Wood, tempera. 65×87
Another title of the work is “Don Dalla Rose’s Pieta”. It was made to order for a home chapel. In a panoramic interpretation of the landscape, against which one can see the mournfully silent Mom, mourning the Offspring, the researchers see the influence of representatives of the northern schools and, in particular, Albrecht Durer, who visited Venice twice. And, in addition, – Gothic German sculpture, well known in Italy. Because in buildings against a landscape background, which contrasts with the triangular monumental composition of the foreground, the palazzo della Rajone and the facade of the Vicenza Cathedral, built by Andrea Palladio, are distinguished, it was suggested that the residents would be Vicenza customers. However, the landscape also depicts the Gate Tower of Castello, the Nattis River flowing in the area near the city of Cividale, and the Ravenna bell tower of San Apollinare Nuovo.
The bindweed at the head of Christ is a symbol of divine love for the human race, and here is His sacrifice. The ivy motif is continued in a fragment with a felled tree. In the Middle Ages, due to the fact that the shoots of this plant often encircle dead trees, an allegory arose: “Non meis viribus” (“Not climbing itself”) – such a tree was a symbol of soul life after the death of the body, as a blessing in the Resurrection of Christ."