Giovanni Bellini: Landscapes of Faith in Renaissance Venice. Davide Gasparotto, ed. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2017. 148 pp. $35.

Abstract

These latter essays are among the very few in the volume that focus on objects other than books, and also reinforce the principle link for the objects scrutinized as their presence in the Stokes collection. As such, the subtitle of the volume (European Art in Australian Collections) is something of a misnomer; its strength lies elsewhere, in pointing a critical and scholarly lens at the private Stokes collection, one that is clearly in need of, and will only benefit from, further scholarly research. Moreover, the future display of such a collection, as much as the early modern works in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney, warrants further discussion. The tantalizing title Antipodean Early Modern is in itself cause for reflection, especially as Australia continues to orient itself more firmly away from Europe and with an eye to the Asia-Pacific. In this era of globalism and ever-shifting geographies and temporalities, questions surrounding what and how to display in public galleries and museums have taken on an unprecedented urgency. The role of the Rothschild Prayer Book in such discussions remains to be seen.