This article examines the signatures on Venetian paintings from about 1440 to about 1550. It argues that painters' signatures are one means of documenting the arrival of Renaissance taste and artistic practice in Venice and its development through the period. Furthermore, they index the changing business practices, professional status, and self-regard of Venetian painters.
The placing of a signature on a painting is a conscious act by the painter that establishes his or her presence. That ...