OMNI PARIS
Louvre Masterclass VI : Painting in Northern Italy
This sixth Louvre Masterclass explores the development of Renaissance painting in Northern Italy through works by Mantegna, Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci, Carpaccio, Luini and their contemporaries. Far from forming a single, homogeneous school, Northern Italy comprised a remarkable variety of artistic centres — Venice, Padua, Milan, Mantua, Brescia and Bergamo — between which artists, models, techniques and influences circulated.
DATE & TIME
9 December 2026 at 17:45
MEETING POINT
Outside the group reception area, under the Louvre glass pyramid
DURATION
2 hours 30 minutes
LANGUAGE
French
THE PROGRAMME
This sixth Louvre Masterclass explores the development of Renaissance painting in Northern Italy through works by Mantegna, Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci, Carpaccio, Luini and their contemporaries.
Far from forming a single, homogeneous school, Northern Italy comprised a remarkable variety of artistic centres — Venice, Padua, Milan, Mantua, Brescia and Bergamo — between which artists, models, techniques and influences circulated.
Through close examination of individual works, the session will consider how these different centres contributed to the transformation of painting from the fifteenth to the early sixteenth century.
Particular attention will be paid to perspective, the construction of pictorial space, the development of landscape and changing approaches to representing the human body. Participants will also explore the growing importance of light and colour, especially in Venetian painting, and their role in creating new atmospheric effects.
Works by Mantegna and Bellini will illuminate artistic exchanges between Padua, Mantua and Venice, as well as relationships between drawing, classical Antiquity, perspective and colour.
Leonardo da Vinci and his circle will provide an introduction to Lombard painting, with attention to innovations in modelling, sfumato, psychological expression and the representation of the face.
Works by Carpaccio, Luini and their contemporaries will broaden the discussion to narrative, portraiture, urban landscape, and the transmission of ideas between artistic centres across Northern Italy.
The masterclass will also examine wider artistic exchanges: the movement of artists, rivalries between courts, patronage, the influence of Antiquity, contacts with Flanders and the spread of pictorial innovations.
Through visual analysis and discussion, participants will develop practical approaches to presenting Italian Renaissance painting to different audiences, highlighting regional distinctions and constructing narratives that go beyond a succession of celebrated masters.
YOUR VISIT
Practical information
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes
Location: Louvre Museum — galleries or rooms specified in each masterclass programme
Language: French
Maximum group size: 20 participants
Audio headsets: Provided
Intended audience: Licensed tourist guides, cultural mediators and heritage professionals
Museum admission is not included. Participants must hold a valid form of admission to the Louvre, such as an admission ticket, a Friends of the Louvre membership card, a professional guide-conférencier card, or any other valid credential granting access to the museum’s collections.
YOUR ART HISTORIAN
Meet your expert
Guillaume Peigné is an art historian and lecturer specialising in Western art from the Renaissance to the Second World War. He holds a PhD in Art History, with doctoral research on nineteenth-century French sculpture. He has taught at the Sorbonne (Paris IV), the École du Louvre and Drouot Formation, where he continues to teach. His approach combines close visual analysis with historical context. At OMNI PARIS, he leads specialist museum masterclasses and professional training sessions.
JOIN THE MASTERCLASS
Reserve your place
Take a closer look at art and history with an expert-led OMNI PARIS masterclass.
Book this masterclassFor programme enquiries, contact us.