CARPACCIO, Vittore (b. 1472, Venezia, d. 1526, Capodistria) Martyrdom of the Pilgrims and the Funeral of St Ursula 1493 Tempera on canvas, 271 x 561 cm Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice Canvas No. 8 of the series of nine large paintings "Stories from the Life of St Ursula". The speed at which Carpaccio's ideas develop is noticeable in the Martyrdom of the Pilgrims and the Funeral of St Ursula, signed and dated 1493 on the scroll at the foot of the column bearing two coats-of-arms, the emblem of the Loredan family and another one, probably belonging to the Caotorta family. The composition of
CARPACCIO, Vittore (b. 1472, Venezia, d. 1526, Capodistria) Martyrdom of the Pilgrims and the Funeral of St Ursula 1493 Tempera on canvas, 271 x 561 cm Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice Canvas No. 8 of the series of nine large paintings "Stories from the Life of St Ursula". The speed at which Carpaccio's ideas develop is noticeable in the Martyrdom of the Pilgrims and the Funeral of St Ursula, signed and dated 1493 on the scroll at the foot of the column bearing two coats-of-arms, the emblem of the Loredan family and another one, probably belonging to the Caotorta family. The composition of the scene is quite complex, for Carpaccio wanted to include two separate episodes from the legend of St Ursula in the same painting, one being the violent scene of the slaughter of the pilgrims and the other the sad and mournful description of the saint's funeral: he succeeds thanks to his masterly spatial division of the composition. The focus of the painting is the knight about to draw his sword out of its scabbard; notice how similar he is to certain figures by Perugino. Behind him, the moorish bugler on horseback rallies the troops and the white and red standard gives depth to the background landscape, mellowed by the green meadow and the pinkish buildings depicted in the peaceful light of the Venetian pre-Alps. Right in the foreground, on the edge of the field in which the knights look almost as though they were taking part in a mediaeval tournament, a fair-haired archer draws the bow he holds in his gloved hand - he is like a sophisticated arabesque in his elegant pose and splendid costume. Motionless, Ursula awaits the mortal arrow, standing against a background of trees, arranged like the wings of a stage, that seem to prolong the scene of the slaughter all the way to infinity. But, just like the fresco of this same episode painted by Tommaso da Modena more than a century earlier, every gesture, even the most violent, is part of a deliberate rhythm and a strict geometr
Size: 4500px × 2300px
Photo credit: © Carlo Bollo / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1400, 1400s, 1500, 1500s, 15th, artwork, carpaccio, century, italian, paint, painter, painting, paintings, vittore
