Giorgione: Old Woman

The “Old Woman” by Giorgione is one of the most striking and attractive images of the Italian Renaissance. Pictured in half the length with her body turned to the side, the dried figure looks directly at us and points to itself. Her mouth, as if to say, is open, and she sends us a text message - a piece of paper coming out of her sleeve with the inscription col tempo (with time). It is noteworthy that the picture retains the original decorated oak frame.

Giorgione created both a portrait and an allegory of time or mortality. In the skin, teeth and hair of a woman, the influence of age appears without stinginess, but still with a depth of humanity. The “old woman” is a treatise on the ability of the image to immediately convince and deceive, to attract and repel, to represent and to hint. He embodies the power and complexity of the art of painting in one of the most experimental moments.

Although Giorgione had a short career and created relatively few works, he is considered the founder of the Venetian Renaissance for his innovative approach to landscape and portrait painting in the 1500s.

Press release provided Cincinnati Art Museum.