Bellini and Giorgione in the House of Taddeo Contarini

Giorgio da Castelfranco, known as Giorgione, The Three Philosophers, ca. 1508–9, oil on canvas, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Photo: KHM-Museumsverband

On rare loan this fall and winter from Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, Giorgione’s Three Philosophers joins the Frick’s beloved Bellini panel St. Francis in the Desert, providing an unprecedented opportunity for audiences to see the pair of paintings in dialogue. The two works were owned by the same Venetian collector, Taddeo Contarini, perhaps as pendants, and were displayed for many decades in his palazzo before their separation four centuries ago. The presentation of these two icons together is curated by Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, who authored an accompanying book about the paintings and their original owner and his collection.