|
This manuscript illustration shows the mature practice of Jacopo Bellini as a portrait painter. The illumination portrays the Venetian general Jacopo Antonio Marcello. The sitter is set into space by the device - also found in contemporary Netherlandish painting - of a foreground ledge, or parapet, which also serves as the surface for a cryptic inscription. The inherently planar character of the profile is to some extent countered by the delicate hatching that models the sitter's features.
|
