(ANSA) - Rome, November 20 - The life and work of seminal High Renaissance painter Giorgione is the focus of an upcoming exhibition showcasing rare masterpieces by mysterious 16th-century artist. The exhibition in Giorgione's birth town of Castelfranco Veneto offers a unique chance to view the extant handful of confirmed works by the painter in one place. Although Giorgione was a celebrated and influential artist in his day, only one signed work of his survived, fuelling years of heated scholarly debate. 'The Tempest', usually housed in Venice, is one of the few universally accepted Giorgione works and one of the most enigmatic pieces by an artist known for his mysterious style. The small painting, one of the first Venetian works where landscape and atmospheric effects play a major part, depicts a woman breast-feeding a child while a soldier looks on and a wild storm rages in the background.

A variety of allegorical, mythological, biblical and literary interpretations have been suggested but there is no generally accepted understanding of what the painting means. The other most widely recognized Giorgione work is an altarpiece completed for Castelfranco Veneto cathedral in around 1504.

The painting shows an enthroned Madonna and Child between St Francis and St Nicasius, also known as the Castelfranco Madonna, and was only recently returned to its home in the cathedral following extensive restoration work. The exhibition will open with paintings believed to be among the artist's earliest efforts, including two panels loaned from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence: 'Moses undergoing Trial by Fire' (1500) and 'The Judgment of Solomon'(1495-6).

Vatican Museum Director Antonio Paolucci, one of three curators of the exhibition, said the works on display offered a clear demonstration of Giorgione's innovative use of composition and choice of subjects. Other works include his richly coloured Madonna and Child (1504) from the Hermitage and his famous portraits, including 'The Three Ages of Man' (1510), from Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and his stiking, recently restored Double Portrait, on loan from Rome's Palazzo Venezia. ''Giorgione invented the romantic portrait, rendering not only the subject's physical image but also capturing his deepest soul, his secrets,'' said Paolucci.

As well as paintings by Giorgione, the exhibition will also examine recently uncovered documentary evidence about the artist in efforts to cast new light on his short life. Giorgione (Giorgio Zorzi da Castelfranco, 1477/8-1510) was first called Giorgio da Castelfranco but was later dubbed Giorgione (Big, Great George) because of his physical stature and artistic gifts.

He came to Venice as a youth and received his first schooling in the studio of the Bellinis.

He became one of Italy's most famous painters and had friends among the Venetian aristocracy and artists from around Italy and northern Europe.

Though he died of plague in his early 30s, Giorgione left a legacy that was developed by his pupil Titian and the Venetian School. Giorgione 1510-2010, at the newly-inaugurated Giorgione Museum, will run from December 12 to April 2010.