"I am convinced that the true collector does not acquire objects of art for himself alone. His is no selfish drive or desire to have and hold a painting, a sculpture, or a fine example of antique furniture so that only he may see and enjoy it. Appreciating the beauty of the object, he is willing and even eager to have others share his pleasure." -J. Paul Getty, The Joys of Collecting, 1965 Rooted in a passion for the Italian Renaissance as well as Dutch and Flemish Baroque works, the original collection of J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) has been transformed over four decades to include seminal pieces by celebrated masters such as Masaccio, Titian, Parmigianino, Cranach, El Greco, Rubens, van Dyck, Rembrandt, Poussin, Canaletto, Fragonard, Turner, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Monet, van Gogh, Cezanne, and Ensor. Masterpiece Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum surveys more than one hundred of the most exquisite and significant paintings displayed in the museum's famed, daylight-suffused galleries. Vibrant full-colour illustrations and engaging descriptions of these masterworks reveal their fascinating histories and cultural, social, and religious meanings. Sure to enchant and edify all art lovers, this book is a spellbinding tour through the history of Western painting.

Scion of an artistic dynasty, Giovanni Bellini is arguably the greatest Venetian painter of the early Renaissance. His astonishing naturalism revolutionised altarpiece painting and is still a source of wonder, as any visit to Frari in Venice will confirm. Most of what we know about this great artist comes from the earliest biographies by Vasari and Ridolfi printed here - the Ridolfi never before translated into English. A different and very personal insight is given by extensive correspondence with Bellini's great but neglected patron Isabella d'Este.

Praised by Albrecht Du rer as being "the best in painting," Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1430-1516) is unquestionably the supreme Venetian painter of the quattrocento and one of the greatest Italian artists of all time. His landscapes assume a prominence unseen in Western art since classical antiquity. Drawing from a selection of masterpieces that span Bellini's long and successful career, this exhibition catalogue focuses on the main function of landscape in his oeuvre: to enhance the meditational nature of paintings intended for the private devotion of intellectually sophisticated, elite patrons. The subtle doctrinal content of Bellini's work-the isolated crucifix in a landscape, the "sacred conversation," the image of Saint Jerome in the wilderness-is always infused with his instinct for natural representation, resulting in extremely personal interpretations of religious subjects immersed in landscapes where the real and the symbolic are inextricably intertwined.This volume includes a biography of the artist,essays by leading authorities in the field explicating thethemes of the J. Paul Getty Museum's exhibition, anddetailed discussions and glorious reproductions of the twelve works in the exhibition, including their history and provenance, function, iconography, chronology, and style.

The catalog of the Aldo Manutiu exhibition, 500 years after his death, is a tribute to the most famous printer in the history of publishing. It tells how the book changed the world and how and why this change happened in Venice, cosmopolitan city and gateway between East and West. But it is mainly a journey through the world of culture and the arts in Venice between the end of the fifteenth century and the start of the sixteenth, in a crucial period featuring major figures like the painters Bellini, Carpaccio, and the young Giorgione (with the debut of his pupil Titian), illustrious visiting foreign artists like Albrecht Durer, and intellectuals of European fame such as Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Born into the most influential artistic family in Venice, he received his training in the studio of his father, Jacopo, along with his brother, Gentile, and through a long and fruitful career played a leading role in advancing the stylistic transformations of the Italian Renaissance. His workshop, one of the most important of the period, counted Giorgione and Titian among its pupils. Contemporary descriptions of his life, however, are few. The first account, by Vasari, which also portrays the family artistic enterprise, was written decades after his death and offers but qualified praise. A century later Carlo Ridolfi, who sought to rectify Vasari's emphasis on Florentine painters, provides a fuller portrayal of Bellini in his 1648 work The Marvels of Art, or the Lives of the Famous Painters of Venice and Its State. These two narratives are complemented by the correspondence of Isabella d'Este, one of the leading art patrons of the Renaissance, and the prominent man of letters Pietro Bembo, which appear here in English for the first time. An introduction by the scholar Davide Gasparotto provides an illuminating discussion of these texts and Bellini's vast oeuvre. The historical texts are enhanced by a generous selection of colour illustrations.

The first study devoted to classical art's vital creative impact on the work of the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens. For the great Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the classical past afforded lifelong creative stimulus and the camaraderie of humanist friends. A formidable scholar, Rubens ingeniously transmitted the physical ideals of ancient sculptors, visualized the spectacle of imperial occasions, rendered the intricacies of mythological tales, and delineated the character of gods and heroes in his drawings, paintings, and designs for tapestries. His passion for antiquity profoundly informed every aspect of his art and life. Including more than 150 color illustrations, this volume addresses the creative impact of Rubens's remarkable knowledge of the art and literature of antiquity through the consideration of key themes. The book's lively interpretive essays explore the formal and thematic relationships between ancient sources and Baroque expressions: the significance of neo-Stoic philosophy, the compositional and iconographic inspiration provided by exquisite carved gems, Rubens's study of Roman marble sculpture, and his inventive translation of ancient sources into new subjects made vivid by his dynamic painting style. This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa October 21, 2020, to January 11, 2021.