Cima was one of the most prolific artists in Venice at the end of the 15th century. More than thirty altarpieces by Cima survive - more than for any of his contemporaries. They include 'The Incredulity of Saint Thomas'.
According to Vasari, Cima was trained by Giovanni Bellini. Even if this was not a formal relationship, it is clear that Bellini's art was a formative influence on him. Although not an original or inventive artist, Cima seems to have had a large and efficient workshop. Its output was large, often varying a standard pattern. Like Bellini he made many domestic images of the Madonna and Child.
Cima worked in many towns in the Veneto, including Parma and Treviso. He was in regular touch with Conegliano, his birthplace. This connection may have helped him export the Venetian type of altarpiece to the provinces.
Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano
about 1459/60 - about 1517/18
Paintings by Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano
(Showing 6 of 11 works)
Christ’s head is shown in vivid close up in this little picture, his pale face and brilliant robe stark against the black background. Bright light falling from the left allows us to see every pitiful detail: the thorns thrust into his forehead, the blood dripping down his face and his red-rimmed...
Not on display
Two young men stroll through the Italian countryside, one of them – rather startlingly – carrying a giant head. He is David and the head is from his defeated enemy, Goliath. The other man is probably David’s friend Jonathan, son of Saul, King of the Israelites.We are not really sure who or what t...
Not on display
An old man with a long white beard kneels in a rocky landscape. He gazes up at a rough wooden cross made from two slender branches roped together. This is Jerome, a fourth-century saint. It’s one of a number of versions of the subject made by Cima da Conegliano.The painting is arranged to focus o...
Not on display
A bearded saint stands in a stone niche. He holds a book and a pen: he is one of the Four Evangelists, the authors of the Gospels – possibly Saint Mark. Although a saint, he has no halo or attribute; he looks more like a Roman philosopher. The quiet stone, the saint’s abstracted and unfocused gaz...
Not on display
A pale young man stands in a stone niche, almost naked and seemingly unaware of the arrows in his arm and leg. This is Saint Sebastian, a Roman soldier who secretly converted to Christianity. When his faith was discovered, he was shot with arrows but miraculously survived.Here, the saint seems mo...
Not on display
The rich colours of this large painting were designed to make maximum impact. Commissioned by a confraternity dedicated to Saint Thomas, it shows the moment that the doubting saint was convinced of Christ’s resurrection. We see him place his fingers in Christ’s wound, checking that Christ had ind...
Not on display
The Virgin and Child sit serenely in the sunlit landscape of northern Italy and gaze out at us placidly. She tenderly cradles his foot while he holds her girdle. Only the marble bench on which they sit hints at his future, in its echo of an altar table.The painter, Cima da Conegliano, signed his...
Not on display
The Virgin sits in front of an Italianate landscape, the Christ Child standing on her lap. He twists his body to gaze lovingly at his mother, while her hand cups his left foot.This picture, with its brilliant blues and greens, is among Cima da Conegliano’s finest works. It is one of several versi...
Not on display
This was one of Cima da Conegliano’s most popular designs, and he and his workshop produced a number of versions of it. The Virgin Mary sits on a marble bench in front of a sunlit Italian landscape, her body forming a solid mass which we can almost feel pressing down on the cool stone. There is h...
Not on display
Probably by Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano
The Virgin Mary sits between two male saints, the naked Christ Child on her knee. The young man holding a book is probably Saint John the Evangelist, author of one of the four Gospels: he was conventionally shown as fair haired and beardless. The old man with the white beard and bishop’s crosier...
Not on display
The Virgin and Christ Child stand between two saints, one from the first century, one from the thirteenth. They don't have haloes, but we can tell who they are from their appearances and traditional attributes.On the left is the first-century Saint Paul, holding a book and the sword with which he...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 11 paintings