Pesaro Altarpiece

Giovanni Bellini's Pesaro Altarpiece, painted around 1471-1474, is an important early work now divided between the Civic Museum of Palazzo Mosca in Pesaro and other collections. The large multi-panel altarpiece was painted for the Church of San Francesco in Pesaro and marks a significant phase in Bellini's development of the monumental sacra conversazione format. The work demonstrates his growing command of oil technique while still retaining elements of his earlier Paduan manner.

The altarpiece shows Bellini transitioning between his early linear style and mature atmospheric approach, with panels exhibiting varying degrees of the warm tonal unity that would characterize his later masterworks.