METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: GALLERIA 606: VENEZIA and North Italy in the Fifteenth Century.

Speranza

As in Florence, so in Venice and elsewhere in northern Italy painters asserted their claim to be considered the equal of poets. The minutely descriptive style of Andrea Mantegna's Adoration of the Shepherds, painted in Padua, posed a real challenge to poets in its variety and affective power, while the sacred figures in the Venetian Giovanni Bellini's devotional paintings radiate a compelling humanity. Also in Venice, Vittore Carpaccio employed his detailed style to create richly programmed images suitable as aids for meditation.