Giovanni Borgherini and his Tutor

Giorgione is a renowned painter who stormed the world of art in 15th century. He established himself as one of the most skilled painters during the High Renaissance period.

His work is famous and well known to date. His paintings are preserved and displayed in the National Gallery of Art located in Washington. His style and technique of painting was influenced by fellow students at Venetian school and other well-known painters like Leonardo da Vinci. His composition and success in the art industry inspired many Venetian artists such as Titian and Lorenzo Lotto who closely imitated his works. It is sometimes virtually impossible to differentiate their paintings as they used similar techniques and styles that were applied by Giorgione.

Giovanni Borgherini and his Tutor is a painting that he did in the 15th century and it is well preserved in the National Gallery of Art. Some of his paintings besides Giovanni and his Tutor are; The Tempest, Sleeping Venus, The Three Philosophers and The Judgement of Solomon. However, after his death, Titan completed some of his work. Giorgione used oil paints and canvas to do the Giovanni Borgherini and his Tutor painting. He used oil to paint on a canvas. This style enabled him to do painting without drawing. The painting displays a bold portraiture against a dark background and this technique enables easier visibility of details. The use of oil in this painting gives it its characteristic glow.

In the background of this painting there is a youth (Giovanni) and a man who is the tutor. The youth is dressed richly. The Tutor is holding an armillary sphere and a scroll that has some writings on it. The man is instructing the youth on how to hold the armillary sphere. The atmosphere of this painting is suffused with fields of colours that do not have definite boundaries. Giovanni Borgherini and his tutor are wearing garments that have a chromatic brilliance. The chromatic brilliance is rarer than the dark background. Giorgione used this gradual shades of colours to express light and perspective.

The man (tutor) could be identified as a Venetian humanist and Giovanni as the favourite pupil in the Venetian years. The client of this painting was probably Giovanni Borgherini's father. The armillary sphere held by the tutor would be signifying the astronomical interest that this man Venetian humanist had. The writings on the scroll refers to that moral coherence that results from unity of thought and action.