Three Stories of Drusiana and of St John the Evangelist

Giovanni Bellini's Three Stories of Drusiana and Saint John the Evangelist of around 1465, depicting narrative scenes from the apocryphal Acts of John, belongs to the predella or subsidiary panels of an altarpiece, demonstrating Bellini's narrative ability across the spectrum from devotional contemplation to dramatic action. The connected sequence of narrative moments creates a proto-cinematic visual story, Bellini managing the challenge of continuous narrative within separated panels with the compositional intelligence that characterized all his figurative work.

The narrative format demands a different approach from Bellini's devotional icons, with multiple figures and settings arranged to tell a sequential story. The early handling is linear and precise, the compositional clarity reflecting the influence of Mantegna's narrative style.