Marco Basaiti

Marco Basaiti (c. 1470-1530) was a renaissance painter who worked mainly in Venice and was a contemporary of Giovanni Bellini and Cima da Conegliano. He has been referred to by several names including Marco Baxaiti, Marcus Basitus, and Marcus Baxiti. Originally Vasari believed there were two artist from Venice at the time, one name Marco Basarini and Marco Basaiti but later information reveals that these two were in fact the same painter.  Not much is known about Marco Basaiti's personal life. There is little documentation on Marco Basaiti besides his painting signatures and when he was recorded on a guild's ledger as a painter of figures in 1530.  Most of what is known about Marco Basaiti comes from examining the paintings attributed to him and the period in which he lived. 

His works consisted of mainly portraits and often focused on religious themes.In fact, there is no known painting attributed to Marco Basaiti with a mythological theme. Although trained in the quattrocento style, Basaiti's career occurs right at the beginning of the cinquecento style which forces him to attempt to adapt his style to compete with the rapidly changing times.

Marco Basaiti was born around 1470, in either Venice or Friuli. His family was of either of Albanian or possibly Greek origin, as Vasari reported. In either case this explains the variety of names Basaiti is known by because the Greek and Albanian communities, along with many other foreign communities, for the most part kept to themselves and do not often appear on Venetian records.  Due to this distinct lack of documentation, not much is actually known about Basaiti's life, except what little scholars can learn about the artist through his art.

One more piece of evidence we have from Basaiti's life is a will left to his possible family in 1526. However, connection between Basaiti and this will is still somewhat debated.

He began to paint actively from 1496 to 1520. Currently there is evidence that Basaiti trained with Bartolomeo Vivarini as Basaiti's earlier pieces are thought to more reflect Bartolomeo's style and composition. Later Basaiti transitioned to working with Bartolomeo nephew Alvise Vivarini after Bartolomeo death in 1491. However once Bartolomeo died in the late 1590s, it is thought that Basaiti began working with Alvise Vivarini, Bartolomeo's nephew. This is supported by the fact that when Alvise died in 1505, Basaiti was commissioned to finish the alter piece entitled St. Ambrose Enthroned with Saints that Alvise had left uncompleted. Typically only major assistants working in the studio would have been asked to do this type of work which suggests that Basaiti was closely connected to Alvise by this time. Additionally, Basaiti's work seems to be influenced stylistically by both Vivarinis further implying the link between Basaiti and these two masters. 

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