Keith Christiansen: “Finding Our Way into Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert”

In Bellini’s great masterpiece, the traditional relationship of figure to setting has been reversed, thus engaging us in a way that transforms our experience of the picture and our understanding of the artist’s creative genius. Keith Christiansen will discuss the impetus behind this transformation and its implications for interpreting the picture’s much-discussed subject. This lecture was made possible by the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation.

This lecture was offered in conjunction with the special exhibition ‘In a New Light: Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert,’ on view at The Frick Collection from May 22, 2011, through August 28, 2011.