Classical Tradition and the Painting of Giovanni da Udine

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present new literary evidence to understand the relationship between ancient Greek painting and some of the most important pictorial advances performed in the Roman Renaissance. In particular, I will focus on the classical tradition in the painting of Giovanni da Udine (1487-1564). For this purpose, I have used the testimony of George Turnbull (1698-1748). In one of his treatises, A Treatise on Ancient Painting (1740), he compares the painting of Pausias of Sicyon (IV century BC) and the Italian painter Giovanni da Udine. The observation and study of the Nero's Domus Aurea was a clear inspiration for Giovanni da Udine in his desire to create a painting all´antico. In addition, we discuss specifically the Loggia of Cardinal Bibbiena to see how the classically inspired Giovanni da Udine.