Pisanello, 'The Vision of Saint Eustace', about 1438-42. London, The National Gallery.

Pisanello, Painter to the Renaissance Court

24 October 2001 - 13 January 2002
Sainsbury Wing

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Pisanello (c.1394 - 1455) was one of the most celebrated and sought-after artists of the Italian Early Renaissance. Famous in his lifetime as a painter and medallist, he was employed by popes, princes and dukes and worked at the courts of two of Italy's greatest ruling houses: the Gonzaga in Mantua and the Este in Ferrara.

Very few of his painted works survive today: only four panel paintings and three frescoes are generally believed to be by him. These are pictures of meticulous, intense beauty, combining great invention and moments of extraordinary naturalistic observation. Although so much of his work is lost, these qualities are confirmed by his portrait medals and by the many drawings attributed both to the artist himself and to his workshop.

The exhibition, the first devoted to Pisanello in this country, included all four of Pisanello's undisputed panel paintings, and focused in particular on the two owned by the National Gallery: 'The Vision of Saint Eustace' and 'The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Anthony Abbot'. It examined their subject matter, how they were made, and their place in the courtly culture of the 15th century, also exploring the associated themes of chivalry and the study of ancient Greece and Rome. The paintings were shown in the context of preparatory drawings, medals, manuscript illuminations, armour and tapestries.

Exhibition Catalogue

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