The Feast of The Gods by Titian

The Feast Of The Gods was the last masterpiece in Bellini’s life, especially painting on canvas, because the most of previous works he painted were on the board. From the late work of The Feast Of The Gods, although it was planed by Titian, it was completed by Bellini, which proved that he also had the flexibility and creativity when he was over 80 years old. Painting on the board needed the careful control of painting, so his skills made him create very exquisite paintings on the canvas. This colorful and rich painting was based on the poem in Ovid’s Feast, describing in a feast of Dionysus, Priapus became a laughing stock because of misconduct in the feast.

The body’s tone, bright silk as well as the pebbles in the prospect showed by this Renaissance painting all proved that Bellini painting technique was very sensitive. On the right side, a fairy Lotis was lying there. And there was a half-man and half-beast god on the left. They accompanied the gods to make a donkey for sacrifice. Priapus was unable to control the sexual temptation, so he lifted the fairy Lotis’s skirt up. But the donkey’s shout made his attempt failed and make a fool of him in public. All gods became very pleased because of this scandal. This episode fully expressed the elegant and nifty customs during Renaissance.

The main gods in this Renaissance painting were from the left: Silenus, Bacchus, Faunus, Mercury, Jupiter (an unknown goddess, holding a marriage fruit), Pan, Nepturne, Ceres, Apollo, Priapus, and Lotis.

Feast of the Gods
Feast of the Gods