FÊTE CHAMPETRE

Fête champetre: translation

(c. 1510; Louvre, Paris)

   Painted by Giorgione, though some art historians believe it to be by the hand of his pupil Titian, while others have suggested that the work represents a collaboration between master and pupil. This is an unconventional picture in terms of its subject matter, which is not completely understood. The most accepted interpretation is that the scene depicts an allegory of poetry. The lute played by one of the figures in the middle ground is a symbol of this literary form, as is the shepherd included in the background. The two nude women are thought to represent the muses who inspire the creative processes involved in composing poetry, their nudity separating them from the earthly realm in which the two men exist. One of the women collects water from a well, perhaps the Hippocrene fountain, the source of inspiration in Mount Helicon where the muses reside. Giorgione added an ethereal quality to the work by adopting Leonardo da Vinci's sfumato technique. He also borrowed Leonardo's palette of deep ochres punctuated by deep red and olive tones. The work elaborates on the scenes created by Giovanni Bellini where the landscape takes on an important role.