Life of the Virgin (Carpaccio)

Life of the Virgin is a cycle of six large canvases by Vittore Carpaccio, dating to between 1504 and 1508. Originally painted for the sala dell'Albergo in the Scuola di Santa Maria degli Albanesi in Venice, they are now split between several museums. They are mostly in oil, though some of them are in mixed technique.

History

Whilst still working on paintings for the Scuola degli Schiavoni, Carpaccio was summoned by their rivals the Scuola degli Albanesi to produce a cycle on the Life of the Virgin, joint patron saint of their confraternity with saint Gall. The confraternity later passed to the Pistori (i.e. the bakers) but was suppressed in 1808 during the Napoleonic occupation and all its furnishings and paintings sold off and split up, including the Life of the Virgin cycle.

List

Image	Year	Title	Measurements	Museum	Notes
200px	Unknown	Nativity	128×137 cm	Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
200px	1505	Presentation in the Temple	130x137 cm	Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
200px	1505	Miracle of the Flowering Wand or Betrothal	130x140 cm	Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
200px	1504	Annunciation	130x140 cm	Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice
200px	Unknown	Visitation	130x140 cm	Galleria Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice
200px	Unknown	Death	130x141 cm	Galleria Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice

Bibliography

• Francesco Valcanover, Vittore Carpaccio, in AA. VV., Pittori del Rinascimento, Scala, Firenze 2007. ISBN 88-8117-099-X
• AA. VV., Brera, guida alla pinacoteca, Electa, Milano 2004. ISBN 978-88-370-2835-0