Brushwork and poetry – the great awakening of Venetian painting around 1500. In the Venice of the Renaissance, master artists like Bellini, Giorgione, Palma Vecchio and Titian explored the essence of mankind and nature and their relationship to each other with an unprecedented intensity. This attractive volume shows through important portraits and landscape representations the pioneering innovations of Venetian painting, which continued to leave their mark right up to the modern age. The painting of the city on the lagoon captivates us not only through the wealth of colours and the nuances of the light, but also through the exceptional sensitivity with which the artists focused on their works. They created sophisticated portraits, seductive idealised likenesses and history paintings whose principal character is the atmospheric landscape. The publication examines the masterpieces in depth with regard to their remarkable innovative strength, the context in which they were produced, and contemporary interpretations.