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Sunday, July 8, 2012

Cameo Apperances in Paint


The World of Salvador Dali  |  Robert Descharnes  |  1962

When Salvador Dali painted his monumental masterpiece The Oecumenical Council in 1960, he was following an age-old tradition by inserting his self-portrait. He was of course familiar with the masters of the Renaissance, who often signed equally monumental altarpieces and frescoes by including their own portraits. Here are several:

Andrea Mantegna, one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance, painted the family and court of  Ludovico Gonzaga in 1474. He added himself to the scene, for he was in fact a part of the Gonzaga Court of Mantua. His work was so highly regarded that he was by no means a hanger-on, though. Mantegna had his own estate and achieved a knighthood.

Before Michelangelo was called upon to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Perugino planned the wall paintings of the chapel and painted a number of them, of which the Surrender of the Keys is regarded the most important. Perugino placed himself behind St. Peter, prominently.


In an earlier project, the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia, Perugino went so far as to frame his self-portrait. It's interesting to see the age difference — clearly the Sistine Chapel project was the culmination of Perugino's career.


Another artist who framed himself for eternity was Pinturicchio, who decorated the Baglioni Chapel, Santa Maria Maggiore in Spello. Vasari, in his Lives of the Painters, spoke harshly of Pinturicchio but noted that he finished commissions on time!



Luca Signorelli painted the walls of the Orvieto Cathedral of Umbria, noted especially for its depiction of Hell. His blond self-portrait includes a portrait of Fra Angelico, who had begun the cathedral's painting. Fra Angelico earned his name not just as a painter of angels, but also because he was respected and loved by all who knew him.

Domenico Ghirlandaio painted the altarpiece in Florence's Santa Trinità, Sassetti Chapel, in 1485. Here he depicts himself as one of the shepherds in Adoration of the Shepherds. Ghirlandaio was by far the most popular fresco painter of his time. Not only did he have extraordinary talent, but he also peopled his paintings with his Florentine neighbors and reinterpreted biblical events in the dress and locale of his time.


Perhaps Domenico appreciated what a handsome face he had, for he inserted himself into commissions with frequency.


Sandro Botticelli, a contemporary of Ghirlandaio, included his portrait in the 1475 Adoration of the Magi. He was 30 years old at the time.

All images after Dali's in this posting come from two excellent books on the Italian Renaissance:
Italian Frescoes; The Flowering of the Renaissance  |  Steffi Roettgen
The Art of the Italian Renaissance  |  H. F. Ullmann
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15 comments:

  1. Dear Mark, What a fantastic post! How clever of you to present it in this original way.
    Not long ago we visited the Baglioni Chapel in Spello. To see Pinturicchio's work in person was a wonderful surprise as it had not been my main reason for the visit. I wanted to see the pavement of the Baglioni Chapel, the richly decorated tiles painted in the 16th century by Giacomo Mancini.

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  2. Dear Gina - Your comment will induce me to study up on Giacomo Mancini. I can't believe that I spent a week in Florence and missed Ghirlanaio's work in the Santa Trinità! I guess I'm due for another visit . . .

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  3. I love this post, Mark. How interesting to see the artists rendition of themselves within the life of the painting. Who knew that Ghirlandio was such a hottie? Apparently he did.

    I always thought Hitchcock inserting himself in his films was something new.

    But artists have (also apparently) been doing this for centuries.

    This is a thought - provoking post. Thanks!

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    1. Hi, Yvette,

      I was certainly thinking (fondly) of Alfred Hitchcock as I was working on this posting. I always looked forward to those brief seconds that he would make his cameo appearance. I don't remember which movie it was, but in one, he rushed up to an elevator door as it closed on his face.

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  4. Very interesting, once again! Your posts are always original, informative and educational. I don't remember reading about this in my art history classes, Mark. BTW, Andrea Mantegna's hat and robe look very much like yours ;-)
    Ciao,
    Loi

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    1. Thank you for that compliment, Loi! I would enjoy owning a real hat of that design, though my options for wearing it would be limited. Salvador Dali said that, like a cook, the painter must officiate with headgear, and he often wore a remarkable hat that was a red, soft version of Athena's helmet. Dali also wore elaborately braided uniforms, decades before Michael Jackson.

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  5. What a wonderful post. Don't you love the landscape backgrounds in these paintings? Carravagio was another artist who included himself in his works, which of course you know.

    I wonder if Botticelli and Ghirlandaio were really that handsome?

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    1. Dear smr,

      The ideals of beauty do change with time (one has only to remember Twiggy), but certain faces endure.

      Andrea Mantegna is one of my favorite artists, in large part for the detail and symbolism he worked into every inch of a painting. I love the landscapes, and I also enjoy studying all the architectural detail in the Renaissance paintings.

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    2. "The Lamentation over the dead Christ'" is extraordinary isnt it? The first time I saw it, I couldn't believe it was painted in 1490, I just checked that.

      Interesting his relationship with the Bellinis.

      Finally glad you like A Polar Bears Tale.

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  6. Well, you know this is right down my alley! I was not aware of all of these, so it was a delight to read! Thanks for giving me a mental break.

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    1. Hi, Theresa - I think you would find "Italian Frescoes" a great inspiration for your own work. It's a huge "coffee table" book with full views and great detail shots of all the greatest Renaissance frescoes.

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  7. seems a bit pretentious, no? Including oneself in the work. Similarly (but not at all) and this sounds silly -i HATE when musical 'artists' refer to themselves in their songs, Destiny's child comes to mind (I'm embaressed to even say that but will resist deleting that).

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    1. Hi, Stefan - I can certainly see your point, though I will say that most of these artists were required to paint their clients interacting with Jesus Christ, so to put oneself in the background probably didn't feel too pretentious by comparison. One also has a sense, when studying the work of someone like Ghirlandaio, that there was probably an excitement and delight in seeing familiar townspeople gathered together in a biblical scene, not unlike what Norman Rockwell's neighbors experienced. In Ghirlandaio's case, it was very good marketing.

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    2. P.S. I hope your move has gone okay.

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