Giovanni Bellini was probably born around 1432-3, and became active as an artist around 1445/1450. Two artistic influences, the Byzantine and the Flemish, important in Venice as a result of its economic and commercial life, would always from the basis of many of his ideas, as were the works of Donatello left in Padua as a result of his 10-year residence there. Giovanni Bellini explores the life and works of this artist, including his Mantegnesque phase, which comprises several fundamental works, and the paintings of Bellini's mature years.