GIORGIONE : “The Tempest”, 1508 - oil on canvas, 83- 73 cm. - Venice, Galeria della Accademia.

As so many other painters who died so young -he passed away at only 32- Giorgione has left us the doubt of what place would his exquisite painting occupy in the history of Art if he had enjoyed a long existence, just as his direct artistic heir - Titian.

“The tempest (the storm)” is a true pictorial poem. Terribly suggestive, the meaning of the picture is still open to many interpretations. The most outstanding element is a threatening lightning over the towers and roofs of a strange fluvial city. We also see the fragile figure of a young woman nursing its son, which contrasts with the powerful storm. In the bottom left corner appears the figure of a young man with a lance, perhaps a soldier protecting the lady. All these elements seem to be placed without any sense or logical relation among them. Perhaps the painter has wanted to paint a metaphor of the fragility and defencelessness of the human being in front of the powerful nature, or perhaps “the tempest” is not more than a painting whose illogical and incontestable beauty is more closer to a musical melody than to a classic Renaissance painting.