THE FEAST OF THE GODS, 1514 by GIOVANNI BELLINI
This is the best example of the limited number of secular works that BELLINI completed towards the end of his artistic life. It is a complex composition, similar to a ROMAN FRIEZE, in its horizontal arrangement. It shows a scene from the life of Ovid, in which about seventeen figures, including BACCHUS and HERMES, as well as JUPITER and PAN, as well as NEPTUNE and APOLLO, are feasting in the forest.
Many of the nymphs and goddesses have their breasts exposed, and PRIAPUS (the man in green on the right side of the painting) is trying to lift the sleeping LOTIS' skirt. There are many sexual themes running through the painting, and it is believed that the couple in the middle, the lady in the peach and the man with the hand between her legs were portraits of Duke and his wife.
The painting is full of the bright colors that Bellini was known for, especially the blue of the young BACCHUS’ robe on the left-hand side. These figures are gods, but there’s not much to distinguish them at all. It’s pretty much a naturalistic depiction of people living their lives in nature.
