Aimee Ng: "Truth and Fiction in Italian Renaissance Portraiture"
Ringkasan
TLDRThe Frick Collection is presenting "Moroni: The Richness of Renaissance Portraiture," the first major show on Giovanni Battista Moroni in North America. Curated by Aimee Ng with collaborators from Italy, the exhibition is on display until June 2nd. Moroni, noted for his naturalistic style and portraiture of the 16th century, showcases works that provoke discussions about his influence in European art history. The exhibition sets out to explore themes of naturalism, the socioeconomics of Moroni's patrons, and the questions of artistic innovation. The lecture "Truth and Fiction in Italian Renaissance Portraiture," given by Aimee Ng herself, complements the exhibition, encouraging viewers to consider Moroni's unique contributions despite a career spent outside Europe's major artistic centers. Art lovers and history enthusiasts are invited to delve deeper into Moroni's art and influence through this significant exhibition.
Takeaways
- ๐จ Moroni brings unique insights into Renaissance portraiture.
- ๐ผ๏ธ Displays until June 2nd at The Frick Collection.
- ๐๏ธ First major North American Moroni exhibition.
- ๐งโ๐จ Features naturalism, capturing detailed and vibrant personas.
- ๐ Connects with broader art history and influences.
- ๐ Examines Moroni's socio-economic contexts.
- โ๏ธ Organized by Aimee Ng and prominent curators.
- ๐ Accompanied by a thought-provoking lecture.
- ๐ฎ๐น Stresses Moroni's European yet locally rooted artistry.
- ๐ Encourages reassessment of Moroni's art contributions.
Garis waktu
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
Ian Wardropper, director of The Frick Collection, introduces a lecture on the exhibition 'Moroni: The Richness of Renaissance Portraiture'. The exhibition, featuring works by Giovanni Battista Moroni, is the first major show on this artist in North America. The lecture is given by Aimee Ng, associate curator at The Frick, who provides a professional background and overview of her involvement in past exhibitions.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Aimee Ng discusses the collaborative effort behind the Moroni exhibition and acknowledges contributions from co-curators and colleagues. She addresses the newfound attention on Moroni's work, specifically his influence on European portraiture and the socioeconomics of his patrons. She prompts conversations on the genius of Moroni and his portrayal of individuals like 'The Tailor', challenging notions of artistic fame and historical bias.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
Ng explores Moroni's work, highlighting the artist's focus on portraiture over religious paintings. She contemplates Moroni's choices and the factors influencing his artistic output, including geographic and market constraints, hypothesizing on opportunities for artistic expression and genius outside major art centers. She uses Moroni's repeat patrons and stylistic formulas as a lens to discuss the artist's market-driven choices.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Ng challenges perceptions of Renaissance art, questioning the balance of realism and idealization in portraiture. She examines Moroni's 'naturalism', exploring how this woodworking factor is perceived both positively and negatively. By comparing Moroni to other artists, Ng discusses how historical critique often misses the nuanced artistry within his seemingly straightforward works.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
Ng continues examining Moroni's artistic strategy, dissecting his use of models, backgrounds, and composition. She introduces the concept of 'sacred portraits', paintings that blend portrait and religious imagery, showcasing Moroni's innovative approach within traditional portraiture. Ng suggests that Moroni's regional position may have afforded him artistic freedoms unencumbered by the conventions of larger art centers.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Ng analyzes Moroni's choice of materials and craftsmanship by juxtaposing paintings with period artifacts. She reveals the intricate processes behind luxury items depicted in Moroni's work, emphasizing the artistic liberties Moroni took in rendering details, such as rich fabrics, to achieve a particular visual impact, thus highlighting the sophistication in his artistic decisions beyond mere replication of reality.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
Ng focuses on specific portraits, revealing Moroni's dedication to capturing material authenticity through careful artistic manipulation of textures and details, such as in depicting brocade fabrics. This detailed exploration serves to illustrate Moroni's technique in balancing painterly abstraction with a semblance of detailed reality, challenging the notion that his works were simple mirrors of the real world.
- 00:35:00 - 00:40:00
Ng reflects on the broader cultural and geographic influences in Moroni's work. She asserts that despite working within regional confines, Moroni's art was informed by a rich tapestry of cultural exchanges, seen in the inclusion of diverse influences and objects within his portrayals. This point highlights the global connections present in seemingly 'local' art, enriched by a flow of people and goods from beyond Italy.
- 00:40:00 - 00:48:43
Ng concludes with reflections on the mysteries surrounding Moroni's life and work, from the lack of documentation to the nuances of his geographic choices. She invites further study of his portraits, asserting their value in art history and their capacity to surprise and captivate contemporary viewers, thus encouraging the audience to revisit Moroni's work in the gallery for deeper appreciation.
Peta Pikiran
Pertanyaan yang Sering Diajukan
What exhibition is being held at The Frick Collection?
The Frick Collection is hosting "Moroni: The Richness of Renaissance Portraiture."
When will the Moroni exhibition be available for viewing?
The exhibition will be on view until June 2nd.
Who organized the Moroni exhibition?
The exhibition was organized by Aimee Ng, Arturo Galansino, and Simone Facchinetti.
Where is Giovanni Battista Moroni's place in art history discussed?
Moroni's place in art history is discussed in relation to European portraiture, including whether he was more influential than previously thought.
What notable work of Moroni could have influenced Rembrandt?
Moroni's painting "Bearded Man with a Letter" has been proposed to have influenced Rembrandt's "Nicolaes Ruts."
What is unique about Moroni's portrait "The Tailor"?
"The Tailor" is noted for portraying a tradesman at work with significant psychological presence, which was revolutionary for the 16th century.
What themes are explored in the Moroni exhibition?
The exhibition explores themes like naturalism, artistic innovation, and the socioeconomics of Moroniโs patrons.
What is the lecture accompanying the exhibition titled?
The lecture accompanying the exhibition is titled "Truth and Fiction in Italian Renaissance Portraiture."
What future project is Aimee Ng working on?
Aimee Ng is working on an exhibition titled "Bertoldo di Giovanni: The Renaissance of Sculpture in Medici Florence."
Has Moroni's work been influential in modern art discussions?
Yes, since the exhibition opening, Moroni's work sparked new conversations around his influence and place in art history.
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- 00:01:07- Good evening, I'm Ian Wardropper,
- 00:01:09director of The Frick Collection.
- 00:01:10I'm delighted to welcome such a large crowd
- 00:01:14of people to this lecture.
- 00:01:16We've had to turn some people away
- 00:01:18and we need a larger auditorium,
- 00:01:20We're working on that right now
- 00:01:23but I'm thrilled that there are so many people here
- 00:01:25to hear the first lecture
- 00:01:29accompanying the exhibition
- 00:01:30Moroni: The Richness of Renaissance Portraiture.
- 00:01:33This exhibition opened a week ago
- 00:01:35and will be on view until June 2nd.
- 00:01:39This is the first major show on this artist in North America
- 00:01:43organized by tonight's speaker, Aimee Ng,
- 00:01:46together with Arturo Galansino,
- 00:01:48director of the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence
- 00:01:52and Simone Facchinetti an independent researcher.
- 00:01:56Aimee took her BFA at the Department of Art
- 00:01:58Queen's University in Ontario
- 00:02:01and PhD at Columbia in 2012.
- 00:02:05She has lectured and written on topics
- 00:02:07stemming from her dissertations concerned
- 00:02:10artists and the Sack of Rome in 1527.
- 00:02:13Before joining The Frick as associate curator in 2015,
- 00:02:18she was Joseph F. McCrindle research assistant
- 00:02:22in the Department of Prints and Drawings
- 00:02:24at the Morgan Library and Museum,
- 00:02:26and lecturer at Columbia from 2012 to 2014.
- 00:02:31Her work for The Frick began as a guest curator
- 00:02:34for The Poetry of Parmigianino's Schiava Turca in 2014,
- 00:02:40an exhibition I think many of us remember fondly.
- 00:02:43And she contributed to Andrea del Sarto:
- 00:02:46The Renaissance Workshop in Action,
- 00:02:49wonderful exhibition that was here 2015 to 2016.
- 00:02:54In 2017, she organized with Stephen K. Scher,
- 00:02:59The Pursuit of Immortality:
- 00:03:01Masterpieces from the Scher Collection of Portrait Medals
- 00:03:05and has been working for a number of years
- 00:03:08on the catalog of the entire Scher Medals Collection.
- 00:03:11This is a huge set of volumes and undertaking
- 00:03:15much of which is a promise gift to The Frick.
- 00:03:19The catalog we're anxiously awaiting to appear
- 00:03:21later this spring.
- 00:03:24One of her future projects
- 00:03:26is an exhibition titled Bertoldo di Giovanni:
- 00:03:29The Renaissance of Sculpture in Medici Florence
- 00:03:32which she's co-edited with Alexander J. Noelle
- 00:03:36and Xavier Salomon, of our staff
- 00:03:39and that opens this September.
- 00:03:43You can see that Aimee has worked extensively
- 00:03:47in the years that she's been here,
- 00:03:49particularly on renaissance projects.
- 00:03:51And I'm delighted that you're gonna hear from her tonight
- 00:03:56on her latest exhibition.
- 00:03:59Following the lecture you can visit the exhibition,
- 00:04:03which should be open to the public for half an hour
- 00:04:06after the close of this.
- 00:04:08Please silence your cellphones
- 00:04:11and I look forward as I'm sure you do
- 00:04:13to hearing her thoughts on this intriguing
- 00:04:17portraitist Moroni in a lecture titled
- 00:04:20Truth and Fiction in Italian Renaissance Portraiture.
- 00:04:23Aimee.
- 00:04:24(audience applauding)
- 00:04:34- Thank you, Ian
- 00:04:36and thank you for all that you have done to make
- 00:04:39the Moroni exhibition possible.
- 00:04:42Thanks to all of you for braving the cold
- 00:04:44to be here tonight,
- 00:04:45and welcome to those who are tuning in on our webcast
- 00:04:49from around the world.
- 00:04:51The exhibition Moroni: The Riches of Renaissance Portraiture
- 00:04:56is a joyous, pleasurable experience
- 00:04:59in The Frick's galleries.
- 00:05:01But it was only possible through the blood,
- 00:05:03sweat and tears, the hard work
- 00:05:05over a long period of time
- 00:05:07of many, many people within The Frick and without.
- 00:05:11I acknowledge my co-curators Simone Facchinetti
- 00:05:13and Arturo Galansino
- 00:05:15and to name every friend and colleague along the way
- 00:05:18who contributed in some way to this project
- 00:05:20would take the rest of the night.
- 00:05:22Suffice it to say that this exhibition
- 00:05:24and its accompanying catalog
- 00:05:26are the product of an extensive and wonderful community
- 00:05:30for which I'm deeply and humbly grateful.
- 00:05:36Giovanni Battista Moroni,
- 00:05:38he's not well-known in this country
- 00:05:41and since the opening of the exhibition last week
- 00:05:43I'm happy that Moroni has become
- 00:05:46the subject of new conversations
- 00:05:48on topics like his place in the history
- 00:05:51of European portraiture.
- 00:05:52As in was he more influential than previously thought?
- 00:05:56Here for example, Moroni's bearded man
- 00:05:59with a letter from the private collection.
- 00:06:02It's been proposed to have inspired
- 00:06:04Rembrandt's Nicolaes Ruts on view
- 00:06:07in The Frick's west gallery.
- 00:06:09There's no secure evidence for this,
- 00:06:11only suggestive circumstantial evidence
- 00:06:14but it's worth talking about.
- 00:06:16Or the socioeconomics of Moroni's patrons
- 00:06:20with regard to The Tailor,
- 00:06:21and the question of who had access to art in Moroni's world.
- 00:06:27The Tailor which is on loan
- 00:06:28from the National Gallery in London
- 00:06:30which is home to the largest number
- 00:06:32of Moroni's outside of Italy.
- 00:06:34The Tailor is Moroni's most famous painting
- 00:06:37and deservedly so.
- 00:06:39It's extraordinary for its moment in the 16th century
- 00:06:43for its portrayal of a tradesman at work as a gentleman
- 00:06:47as if in stopped action
- 00:06:49with such psychological presence,
- 00:06:52and the topic of artistic genius.
- 00:06:55In the last week it has been asked about Moroni
- 00:06:58who was nowhere near as famous
- 00:07:01as older contemporaries like Titian and Bronzino.
- 00:07:05Did Moroni deserve to be more famous than he was?
- 00:07:09Was Moroni a forgotten genius or just forgotten.
- 00:07:15This is a difficult question to answer
- 00:07:16first of all because in the context of European art history,
- 00:07:20the term genius is a problematic one
- 00:07:24connected as it is to myths
- 00:07:26of the individual artistic genius,
- 00:07:29the implicitly male superlative artist
- 00:07:32who basically emerged fully formed from the womb
- 00:07:35to surpass his contemporaries.
- 00:07:37Such myths can belittle the role of training
- 00:07:41of financial needs and constraints,
- 00:07:43the importance of assistance even
- 00:07:46in creating a work of art.
- 00:07:48So in the myth of Michelangelo is genius for example,
- 00:07:52baby Michelangelo drinks the milk of a wet nurse
- 00:07:55who was a stone cutter's wife
- 00:07:57thus explaining in part his unrivaled talents
- 00:08:00in carving stone.
- 00:08:03For Moroni, a look at his entire known artistic outputs
- 00:08:08suggests that he wasn't always striving
- 00:08:11to demonstrate genius.
- 00:08:13A roughly 200 surviving paintings,
- 00:08:17about 75 are religious works.
- 00:08:20Here's his Madonna and Child
- 00:08:21with the four doctors of the church
- 00:08:23and St. John the Evangelist in Trent, an early work.
- 00:08:26And a late work on the right,
- 00:08:28The Assumption of the Virgin in the Brera, Milan.
- 00:08:31His religious paintings can be somewhat dry
- 00:08:36and they're often derived directly
- 00:08:38from compositions by his teacher, Moretto de Brescia.
- 00:08:41I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't say this
- 00:08:43but I have a hard time telling them all apart.
- 00:08:47Moroni is much better known for good reason I think
- 00:08:50for his portraits of which about
- 00:08:53125 are currently attributed to him today.
- 00:08:57Not all of them are as exciting
- 00:08:59or innovative as the tailor.
- 00:09:02Indeed, many of them aren't.
- 00:09:04He doesn't seem to have ever gone
- 00:09:06to the major artistic centers of his day
- 00:09:08like Venice, Florence or Rome,
- 00:09:10and here are some of the major cities marked on the map.
- 00:09:13Instead, he lived and worked almost exclusiveLy
- 00:09:16in his native, Albino and Bergamo up in the alps
- 00:09:21with short stints in Brescia
- 00:09:23where he trained with Moretto de Brescia,
- 00:09:25and in Trent up near the German border
- 00:09:28during the Catholic council of Trent.
- 00:09:31Who were his patrons in these somewhat regional cities?
- 00:09:36If you flip through Mina Gregori's
- 00:09:371979 catalog Rasone of Moroni's Works
- 00:09:40which is still the authoritative source,
- 00:09:43you'll see numerous portraits of the local bourgeoisie
- 00:09:46that must have been his bread and butter.
- 00:09:48That must have paid his bills.
- 00:09:50Lots of portraits of white men in black
- 00:09:53in similar formats,
- 00:09:54here's another page.
- 00:09:56Individually they're not bad portraits,
- 00:09:58many presenting highly individualized features
- 00:10:01with psychological presence,
- 00:10:04but the formula is evident.
- 00:10:06Moroni responded to the demands of his market
- 00:10:10just as most if not all early modern artists did.
- 00:10:15What opportunities to express genius
- 00:10:18were available to someone like Moroni
- 00:10:21outside of the big cities and the big patrons,
- 00:10:24someone who was clearly kept busy
- 00:10:26painting the local middle class?
- 00:10:29Should an artist be evaluated for signs of genius
- 00:10:31according to one extraordinary work?
- 00:10:35Or should he be judged on the entirety
- 00:10:38of his artistic output?
- 00:10:41Every so often when he had the chance,
- 00:10:44a slightly more prominent patron
- 00:10:45or someone looking for something
- 00:10:47a little more interesting,
- 00:10:49Moroni produced something spectacular.
- 00:10:54My talk tonight explores some of these moments
- 00:10:57that reveal a much more interesting artist
- 00:11:00than his many men in black might suggest.
- 00:11:04To tell the story of Moroni,
- 00:11:06one kind of has to go back to the beginning
- 00:11:08or at least to one beginning.
- 00:11:10In one origin story of the invention of portraiture
- 00:11:14told by the ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder,
- 00:11:17one of the first portraits was the result
- 00:11:20of a woman's impulse.
- 00:11:22Yay.
- 00:11:24Pliny's myth was particularly popular
- 00:11:26among 18th century artists
- 00:11:27hence I'm showing you here a painting by
- 00:11:29Joseph Wright of Derby
- 00:11:30in the National Gallery of Art Washington.
- 00:11:32Pliny recounts that a young woman,
- 00:11:35the daughter of the potter, Butades of Sicyon in Corinth,
- 00:11:39Pliny never actually gives her a name
- 00:11:41and this painting is called The Corinthian Maid,
- 00:11:43but her name was Cora.
- 00:11:45The young woman, Cora, was in love with a young man
- 00:11:49who was about to depart on a long journey.
- 00:11:51And of course in those days
- 00:11:52one was never really sure
- 00:11:54if one would make it back from a long journey.
- 00:11:57Before the young man leaves,
- 00:11:59she traces the outline of his shadow
- 00:12:02as it's cast against a wall.
- 00:12:04And this outline her father fills in with clay.
- 00:12:07And Pliny's story is actually about the woman's father
- 00:12:10inventing the first known relief portrait.
- 00:12:13He isn't actually crediting the daughter with anything
- 00:12:15but in fact it was she who acting on the urge
- 00:12:19to capture her lover's appearance
- 00:12:21to leave a trace of him to look at when he was gone.
- 00:12:25It was she who drew the first portrait.
- 00:12:30Why this guy fell asleep during their farewell,
- 00:12:32I have no idea.
- 00:12:33(audience laughing)
- 00:12:34In David Allan's version
- 00:12:37in the National Galleries of Scotland
- 00:12:38he's a little bit livelier.
- 00:12:40(audience laughing)
- 00:12:41This was one significant aspect
- 00:12:44of Italian renaissance portraiture,
- 00:12:45the impulse to imitate someone's appearance so closely
- 00:12:50that the painting or sculpture
- 00:12:51seems to capture the person exactly as he or she looked,
- 00:12:56to make he who is absent seem to be present.
- 00:13:00Recording appearances precisely
- 00:13:02was certainly not the only aim of portraiture
- 00:13:05which was of course a vehicle to shape,
- 00:13:07embellish, even invent one's identity.
- 00:13:11But praise for portraiture in the Italian renaissance
- 00:13:14often took the form of saying
- 00:13:16that the portrait lacked only breath,
- 00:13:19that it was so convincing alikeness of the person
- 00:13:22that it just needed the breath of life
- 00:13:23and it might walk right out of its frame.
- 00:13:27And I'm showing you Raphael's portrait
- 00:13:28of Baldassare Castiglione from the Louvre
- 00:13:31as a famous example of how portraits serve
- 00:13:34to make someone who is absent seem present.
- 00:13:37Castiglione the sitter and a poem,
- 00:13:39a well-known poem about the portrait
- 00:13:42suggest that Raphael painted it so well,
- 00:13:44the likeness was so effective
- 00:13:47that when Castiglione was away from home
- 00:13:49his wife and young sons spoke to the painting
- 00:13:52nearly expecting it to respond.
- 00:13:56I just wanna underline something
- 00:13:57that's very well-recognized by now
- 00:13:59but it's very hard to fully appreciate
- 00:14:01the value, presence, function, pleasure
- 00:14:05of a painted portrait in the renaissance
- 00:14:07in our present day context of so many photos
- 00:14:10of our loved ones on our phones, literally thousands.
- 00:14:15It can be hard to imagine a time in which
- 00:14:17most people never had a single portrait painted
- 00:14:19of themselves made in any medium,
- 00:14:21and those with the wealth and means to do so
- 00:14:24may have only had one portrait made of them
- 00:14:26in their entire lives.
- 00:14:28Back to the renaissance.
- 00:14:30The praise that a portrait is so life-like
- 00:14:32that it lacks only breath was applied also to portraits
- 00:14:37that appear to modern eyes more overtly stylized
- 00:14:41like those of Bronzino
- 00:14:42and here's The Frick's Bronzino portrait
- 00:14:45of Lodovico Capponi
- 00:14:47and perhaps Bronzino's most famous and most copied,
- 00:14:50Eleonora di Toledo in the Uffizi Galleries.
- 00:14:54In Bronzino's portraits,
- 00:14:56his sitters probably looked something
- 00:14:58like what he painted
- 00:14:59but they also seem to have been transformed
- 00:15:02into enchantingly beautiful ivory creatures
- 00:15:05with impossibly long hands.
- 00:15:08But Bronzino's portraits could still be
- 00:15:11and were praised in the same way,
- 00:15:14celebrated for life likeness to lack only breath.
- 00:15:18Because portraits were meant
- 00:15:20to have both likeness and art.
- 00:15:23Editing, selecting, adherence to ideals of beauty,
- 00:15:27portraits should present a sitter's best self
- 00:15:31even a better self.
- 00:15:33Meanwhile in the portraiture of Michelangelo
- 00:15:36invention prevailed over likeness.
- 00:15:39When Michelangelo's sculptures of Lorenzo
- 00:15:42and Giuliano de' Medici were criticized
- 00:15:44for not resembling them in real life,
- 00:15:47the sculptor reportedly responded that
- 00:15:49in a thousand years no one would know
- 00:15:51that the real Lorenzo and Giuliano didn't look like this.
- 00:15:55The images he invented of them, however, would endure
- 00:15:59and they certainly have.
- 00:16:01Moroni's portraits have long been characterized
- 00:16:04by scholars, by this,
- 00:16:05by their apparent faithfulness to their models.
- 00:16:09And here is Moroni's Gabriele Albani
- 00:16:11from a private collection
- 00:16:12which you can see next door in the east gallery.
- 00:16:15Yes, that is a lump on his forehead.
- 00:16:18No, it has not been securely diagnosed.
- 00:16:21(audience laughing)
- 00:16:22Moroni's naturalism has been seen
- 00:16:24both negatively and positively.
- 00:16:27Negatively, in the early 20th century
- 00:16:29the American art historian Bernard Berenson condemned Moroni
- 00:16:34as the only mirror portrait painter
- 00:16:36that Italy ever produced,
- 00:16:38calling him uninventive,
- 00:16:40that he gives us sitters no doubt as they looked.
- 00:16:44Berenson is recalling an old criticism,
- 00:16:47one that goes way back to Ancient Greece and Rome,
- 00:16:49an artist should not copy his models too slavishly.
- 00:16:53Again, there should be some art.
- 00:16:56And a similar debate continues in contemporary art,
- 00:16:59I've seen art students, professional artists
- 00:17:01criticized for producing what's sometimes called
- 00:17:03photorealistic paintings.
- 00:17:05The argument goes, where is the art in that?
- 00:17:09What is there besides superficial technical ability
- 00:17:12to do what a camera could do in a fraction of a second?
- 00:17:16And it's true that Moroni gives the impression
- 00:17:19especially in his comparatively few portraits of women.
- 00:17:23So out of about 125 portraits,
- 00:17:25only about 15 depict women.
- 00:17:28This one, the portrait of a woman
- 00:17:29is in a private collection.
- 00:17:31He does not seem to have idealized his women.
- 00:17:35Here for example in Lucrezia Agliardi Vertova
- 00:17:38from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- 00:17:40her wrinkled skin, sagging neck with a goiter
- 00:17:45yet she's still presented with dignity,
- 00:17:48all of Moroni's sitters are.
- 00:17:50Moroni's women have not be treated very well
- 00:17:53by art historians.
- 00:17:54Regarding this bust portrait of Isotta Brembati
- 00:17:58for example from Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.
- 00:18:00In the 19th century, Jacob Burckhardt referred to her
- 00:18:04evidently provincial beauty.
- 00:18:07And Otto Mundler, the traveling agent
- 00:18:09for the National Gallery in London in the mid-19th century
- 00:18:12derided her flat nose and thick lips.
- 00:18:17One senses a darker undertone too Mundler's comments.
- 00:18:21These responses, albeit of the 19th century,
- 00:18:24stand in stark contrast to these sometimes
- 00:18:26extravagant responses to Moroni's men.
- 00:18:31I have heard from more people than I care to count
- 00:18:33that Moroni's tailor is their art historical boyfriend.
- 00:18:37(audience laughing)
- 00:18:39And then there was the kind of amazing review
- 00:18:42of the Moroni show in London five years ago
- 00:18:44by the journalist Jonathan Jones.
- 00:18:47"Moroni loves men," he wrote.
- 00:18:49"He loves their beards, their swords,
- 00:18:51"their finely hosed legs.
- 00:18:53"His portraits of men are erotically charged
- 00:18:55"in a way his pictures of women are not.
- 00:18:58"Moroni paints men with such emotional depth
- 00:19:01"because he's in love with them."
- 00:19:03End quote.
- 00:19:05I don't know yet that I've figured out
- 00:19:07Moroni's women and his men.
- 00:19:09I don't think he painted women the way he did
- 00:19:11because he didn't like them.
- 00:19:14Whatever modern responses may be,
- 00:19:17Moroni's portraits of women like Lucrezia and Isotta
- 00:19:22seem to have been valued by their patrons and owners.
- 00:19:25The portrait of Lucrezia on the left for example
- 00:19:28remained installed in the Convent of Sant'Anna
- 00:19:30for which it was commissioned
- 00:19:32until the late 18th century in Albino.
- 00:19:35And the portrait of Isotta on the right
- 00:19:37which also remained in that family for centuries
- 00:19:40seems to have won Moroni commissions
- 00:19:42for portraits of other members of her family,
- 00:19:45and probably led to his painting
- 00:19:47of the full length portrait of her a few years later.
- 00:19:51Was the lack of obvious idealization
- 00:19:55valued as a respect for their women's appearance?
- 00:19:59I'd like to think so but one can't be sure.
- 00:20:03And modern art historians have put a positive spin
- 00:20:05on what Berenson saw as Moroni's uninventive,
- 00:20:08slavish copying.
- 00:20:10In response to Berenson, the Italian art historian
- 00:20:13Roberto Longhi in the 1950s
- 00:20:15celebrated Moroni's documents of society
- 00:20:18that are unmediated by style
- 00:20:21as if the portraits are sort of ethnographic record
- 00:20:24of Moroni's society.
- 00:20:26And Longhi put Moroni at the head
- 00:20:27of a tradition of Lombard naturalism
- 00:20:30that anticipated Caravaggio.
- 00:20:33And since the 1950s scholarship has continued
- 00:20:35to uphold this positive spin,
- 00:20:37Moroni celebrated, defined by his naturalism.
- 00:20:43I argue that there's more to Moroni than this,
- 00:20:47that naturalism itself is something to probe
- 00:20:50and play with in Moroni's art.
- 00:20:53The Riches of Renaissance Portraiture
- 00:20:55and the title of our exhibition
- 00:20:56is obviously about much more than the lavish
- 00:20:59and opulent objects we brought together with the paintings.
- 00:21:02It refers also to the portraits themselves,
- 00:21:05the fictions, inventions and liberties
- 00:21:08that belie Moroni's illusions
- 00:21:10of having simply recorded reality.
- 00:21:14Right off the bat, in the context
- 00:21:16of early modern portraiture,
- 00:21:17the very concept of likeness to a model
- 00:21:21should itself be questioned.
- 00:21:23And to give you something to think about,
- 00:21:25since the 19th century these two portraits
- 00:21:28have been believed to depict the same person,
- 00:21:30Isotta Brembati five years apart
- 00:21:33and the younger one is on the right.
- 00:21:36And for good historical reasons
- 00:21:38as they were in Isotta's family collection
- 00:21:40for centuries together.
- 00:21:42Recently, this portrait was proposed
- 00:21:44to be a third portrait of Isotta 20 years later
- 00:21:49without external evidence.
- 00:21:51And so far, it's not an identification
- 00:21:53that's widely supported by scholars
- 00:21:55But still have a look
- 00:21:57and all three are in the exhibition.
- 00:22:00In the context of early modern portraiture,
- 00:22:03the very concept of likeness to a model
- 00:22:06should be questioned.
- 00:22:08In a sense, the ways that Moroni's portraits
- 00:22:11have been described in art historical literature
- 00:22:13as documents without stylistic mediation
- 00:22:17presenting physical truth.
- 00:22:19These words suggest that the appearances
- 00:22:22of 16th century people can be known definitively.
- 00:22:27But with the possible exception of life masks
- 00:22:30and death masks, this is simply not true.
- 00:22:33No matter how many portraits of a person exists
- 00:22:36from the 16th century
- 00:22:37we can never be absolutely sure
- 00:22:39that we know exactly what he or she looked like.
- 00:22:41Every portrait we have from the renaissance
- 00:22:43has been mediated by an artist in some way
- 00:22:46no matter how subtly.
- 00:22:48And I don't wanna belabor the point
- 00:22:50but just to give an obvious example,
- 00:22:51maybe an exaggerated example,
- 00:22:53of the same person painted by two different artists
- 00:22:56around the very same time,
- 00:22:57here's the Emperor Charles V in 1533
- 00:23:00painted by Titian in the Prado
- 00:23:03and the same Charles V painted by
- 00:23:05Lucas Cranach The Elder on the right also in 1533
- 00:23:09at the Thyssen also in Madrid,
- 00:23:11each is mediated by the artist in their own way.
- 00:23:15In Moroni's portraits, the effect of having studied
- 00:23:18someone directly from life
- 00:23:19can be so convincing that it's easy to forget
- 00:23:22that each portrait is constructed
- 00:23:24through a series of artistic decisions.
- 00:23:26And the same issues have been addressed years ago
- 00:23:29by scholars in the work of Northern European artist
- 00:23:32like Jan van Eyck.
- 00:23:34And there are several connections to make
- 00:23:35between Moroni and artists of the north.
- 00:23:38Writing about the Arnolfini portrait for example
- 00:23:41in the National Gallery in London,
- 00:23:42the artist historian Lorne Campbell
- 00:23:44could have been referring to Moroni when he wrote, quote,
- 00:23:47"It's very easy to fall into the error
- 00:23:50"of thinking that van Eyck or Moroni
- 00:23:53"recorded with impassive objectivity all that he saw
- 00:23:57"to take his image too literally,
- 00:23:59"to treat it as if it were a photographic record
- 00:24:01"of a single instance."
- 00:24:03And referring specifically to the couple, he writes,
- 00:24:06"The couple are distorted and idealized,
- 00:24:08"the room is an imagined space,
- 00:24:10"the objects are arranged with marvelous artifice."
- 00:24:13End quote.
- 00:24:15And just because some of Moroni's women by the way
- 00:24:18are not particularly beautiful
- 00:24:20according to prevailing standards of beauty,
- 00:24:23it still does not necessarily mean
- 00:24:24that they looked exactly like this.
- 00:24:27Indeed, these may well be idealized
- 00:24:30depictions of them.
- 00:24:32Yes, Moroni's observations of light and shadow,
- 00:24:35on flesh and fabric, the precise features of the face,
- 00:24:38these aspects may have only been possible
- 00:24:40through direct study of his sitters.
- 00:24:43But that's just one aspect of a complex of factors
- 00:24:46that make up a portrait.
- 00:24:49There is any number of fictions
- 00:24:51in his and in any renaissance portrait.
- 00:24:54For example, like many 16th century artists,
- 00:24:57Moroni probably used mannequins or stand-in models
- 00:25:00to study carefully the intricacies of clothes.
- 00:25:03So the body is wearing the clothes
- 00:25:05and Moroni's portraits may not necessarily
- 00:25:07be those of the sitter.
- 00:25:09And a number of scholars have noted that
- 00:25:10some of Moroni's heads are slightly too large
- 00:25:13or slightly misaligned with their bodies like here
- 00:25:17in Gabriel de la Cueva on loan
- 00:25:19from the Grimaldi Gallery in Berlin.
- 00:25:21This suggests that Moroni painted the heads
- 00:25:23independently from the rest of the portrait
- 00:25:25which may have been completed in various phases.
- 00:25:29The fact that a number of Moroni's sitters
- 00:25:31bear a very similar pose,
- 00:25:33here for example a portrait
- 00:25:34that's not in the exhibition on the right,
- 00:25:37Girolamo Virtova from a private collection
- 00:25:39has a similar pose to Gabriel de la Cueva,
- 00:25:42and shows that Moroni retained a few formulas
- 00:25:45for composing his portraits.
- 00:25:48Some of the hands in Moroni's portraits
- 00:25:50don't exactly match faces.
- 00:25:53Particularly in depictions of older sitters
- 00:25:55in which significant attention is paid to
- 00:25:57articulating the wrinkles of the face
- 00:26:00as in Lucrezia on the left
- 00:26:01or Giovanni Bressani on the right.
- 00:26:04In both it seems that the hands
- 00:26:06of a younger model were used,
- 00:26:09or at least there's no indication
- 00:26:10that the hands are of the same age
- 00:26:11and expected appearance as the faces.
- 00:26:14And then there are the backgrounds,
- 00:26:16sometimes ambiguous, partly indoor, partly outdoor spaces
- 00:26:20that seem to be allegorical in the way they portray
- 00:26:23through sprouting vegetations,
- 00:26:25streaks of moisture, a sense of age, decay,
- 00:26:29the passing of time.
- 00:26:30And I won't say anymore of the backgrounds
- 00:26:32in Moroni's portraits because
- 00:26:34Professor David Kim will be giving a lecture
- 00:26:36on this topic on May 8th
- 00:26:38and you won't want to miss that.
- 00:26:41Moroni was not merely a documentarian
- 00:26:43and even if he did not revolutionize
- 00:26:46the entire trajectory of Italian art,
- 00:26:48so in addition to being geographically limited,
- 00:26:50he did not have an extensive studio
- 00:26:52or significant pupils.
- 00:26:54He still innovated portraiture in several ways.
- 00:26:57Besides The Tailor and its revolutionary depiction
- 00:27:01of a man at work,
- 00:27:02his Pace Rivola Spini from the Accademia Carrara
- 00:27:06is a pendant to the portrait of her husband, Bernardo Spini,
- 00:27:10but as she occupies her own canvas on her own
- 00:27:14and stands fully upright
- 00:27:15at the same height as her husband,
- 00:27:18she's also the earliest known
- 00:27:20independent full length portrait
- 00:27:22of a standing woman of the Italian renaissance.
- 00:27:26This full length format was generally reserved
- 00:27:28for European men in the highest positions of power.
- 00:27:32Who decided that this noble woman
- 00:27:34from the outskirts of Bergamo
- 00:27:36should be portrayed in this way,
- 00:27:38the visual equal to her husband?
- 00:27:41Her?
- 00:27:42The artist?
- 00:27:43Her husband?
- 00:27:44I've wondered if Moroni and his sitters
- 00:27:47away from the expectations and regulations
- 00:27:50of the major cities like Venice, Florence and Rome,
- 00:27:53if they enjoyed relative freedom
- 00:27:55to break with expected social hierarchies and norms.
- 00:28:00We unite for the first time in our exhibition
- 00:28:03Moroni's three surviving so-called sacred portraits.
- 00:28:06This is a genre that Moroni invented.
- 00:28:09It's obviously derived from the long tradition
- 00:28:11of donor portraits but here,
- 00:28:13the contemporary sitter is the primary subject
- 00:28:17shown praying before sacred figures
- 00:28:19painted at a scale that suggests
- 00:28:21these paintings were meant for domestic setting
- 00:28:23rather than a church.
- 00:28:24And these two are on loan from the
- 00:28:26Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond on the left
- 00:28:29and on the right from a private collection.
- 00:28:31The third is from the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
- 00:28:35The sacred portraits are kind of jarring
- 00:28:38and their contrast in style
- 00:28:39between the portraits which like his other portraits
- 00:28:42appear to have been studied from life,
- 00:28:43and the religious figures which relate to
- 00:28:46or derive from other known works of art.
- 00:28:50The Virgin and Child for example in this sacred portrait
- 00:28:54are modeled from a print by Albrecht Durer
- 00:28:57and I'm not showing the painting and print
- 00:28:59in proportion here,
- 00:29:00you'll see in the gallery the significant disparity in size
- 00:29:03and Moroni used a very small print
- 00:29:06made for personal devotion as a model
- 00:29:08for an almost monumental set of figures.
- 00:29:11Perhaps the unknown sitter owned
- 00:29:13an impression of the Durer print
- 00:29:15or maybe Moroni did.
- 00:29:17All of these examples are treated extensively
- 00:29:19in the catalog that accompanies the exhibition.
- 00:29:23But I'd like to draw attention
- 00:29:24to some of the more subtle liberties
- 00:29:27Moroni took in his portraits
- 00:29:28including in his most celebrated works
- 00:29:31that have escaped unnoticed until now.
- 00:29:34And the objects in the exhibition help us
- 00:29:36make these moments of invention and license
- 00:29:39a little clearer.
- 00:29:41As you know, we've included in the exhibition
- 00:29:44a number of objects that represent types of things
- 00:29:47that appear in Moroni's portraits.
- 00:29:49On the right, shown along side the portrait of a young woman
- 00:29:51wearing a pink brocade dress,
- 00:29:53we have an example of 16th century brocade
- 00:29:56in blue from The Metropolitan Museum.
- 00:29:58For an artist best known for his naturalism,
- 00:30:01for his convincing illusion of having captured reality,
- 00:30:04what was he looking at?
- 00:30:06Obviously we can't know what his sitters really looked like
- 00:30:09but bringing together his paintings
- 00:30:11with related renaissance objects
- 00:30:13offers a chance to better understand him as a painter.
- 00:30:16How he translated the world around him
- 00:30:18into strokes of paint.
- 00:30:20So in his portrait of a young woman,
- 00:30:22he articulates her pink silk brocade dress
- 00:30:25with little jots of yellow and white,
- 00:30:28and the detail on the right is taken
- 00:30:29from the left side of her dress
- 00:30:31to represent the reflection of light on the surface.
- 00:30:35But to really grasp what he's done here,
- 00:30:38how he's translated the appearance
- 00:30:39of an actual fabric into quick strokes,
- 00:30:42short-handed strokes of paint,
- 00:30:44it takes understanding what renaissance brocade
- 00:30:46really looked like.
- 00:30:48Now I'm guilty for thinking
- 00:30:50that I thought I knew what brocade looked like.
- 00:30:52And yes, I knew it was gold and silver shiny patterns
- 00:30:55woven into a textile
- 00:30:58but I didn't fully get it
- 00:30:59until I looked really closely at an actual piece
- 00:31:02of renaissance brocade.
- 00:31:03And I hope many of our visitors
- 00:31:05have the same kind of revelation.
- 00:31:09The example in the exhibition
- 00:31:11which is obviously not from the sitter's dress
- 00:31:12but is an example of the same weaving technique,
- 00:31:15was probably more vibrantly blue in the renaissance
- 00:31:18and it is actually two joined fabrics,
- 00:31:20the seam runs across the middle.
- 00:31:23And as we get closer
- 00:31:25and this detail is taken from the point
- 00:31:27indicated by the arrow,
- 00:31:28you'll see what creates the brocade effect.
- 00:31:30It's made from extremely thin strips of precious metal,
- 00:31:34let's go a little bit closer.
- 00:31:36The detail on the left is taken of the green square.
- 00:31:39Metal strips that are wound by hand around silk thread
- 00:31:45then woven into the textile into loops
- 00:31:47to create the brocade effect.
- 00:31:50So looking at the paining alone,
- 00:31:52here again is the detail of the painting,
- 00:31:53Moroni's painted brocade.
- 00:31:55The fabric seems vaguely luxurious and expensive
- 00:31:58made up of jots of paint
- 00:31:59but having an actual textile in the gallery
- 00:32:03drives home just how shorthand,
- 00:32:04how painterly Moroni's portrayal is,
- 00:32:08and how opulent these fabrics were.
- 00:32:10Imagine how heavy wearing a dress
- 00:32:13brocaded like this would be
- 00:32:15where so much metal hanging off the fabric.
- 00:32:18The microscopic view by the way
- 00:32:19was taken with the aid of our colleagues
- 00:32:21in the Textile Conservation Studio at The Met.
- 00:32:23So I was completely shocked
- 00:32:25at the incredibly time-consuming
- 00:32:27and labor-intensive task of hand winding
- 00:32:29metal around silk thread enough to make an entire dress.
- 00:32:33When I expressed this to one
- 00:32:35of the conservators, Cristina Carr,
- 00:32:37she looked at me and said,
- 00:32:39"There's a reason there was a revolution."
- 00:32:41(audience laughing)
- 00:32:43Fair enough.
- 00:32:44Seeing Moroni's painterly translation
- 00:32:47of brocade into dabs of paint
- 00:32:49allows us also to see various modes of painting at work
- 00:32:52in a single portrait.
- 00:32:54For example, meticulous detail on the face,
- 00:32:57a special thank you to Shawn Digney-Peer
- 00:33:00and our colleagues in The Met's
- 00:33:01Department of Paintings Conservation for the Discovery
- 00:33:04made during preparation for this exhibition.
- 00:33:07Here's the title of the area below the lower lip
- 00:33:10of tiny incisions into a wet paint layer.
- 00:33:14Possibly made with the back of a paintbrush
- 00:33:16that manipulate the paint in ways
- 00:33:19that produce extraordinarily subtle transitions
- 00:33:22between features.
- 00:33:25Below the tightly painted lays the dress
- 00:33:27is more loosely articulated
- 00:33:29and then the necklace which appears
- 00:33:31highly detailed from a distance
- 00:33:34upon close inspection seems almost
- 00:33:36to dissolve into abstract dabs of paint.
- 00:33:40There's a lot more going on in this painting
- 00:33:42than a record of reality.
- 00:33:46The objects in the exhibition also help us
- 00:33:49to draw attention to objects in the paintings
- 00:33:52that one might not see at first or not understand.
- 00:33:54So here again is Moroni's Isotta Brembati,
- 00:33:56a noble woman of Bergamo.
- 00:33:58Many people think she's holding a fluffy
- 00:34:00pink and white purse.
- 00:34:03But in her hand is a feather fan
- 00:34:07with a gold or gilt bronze handle.
- 00:34:10So we display alongside the portrait
- 00:34:12what may be the last surviving
- 00:34:15gilt bronze fan handle of the renaissance
- 00:34:18from the V and A in London
- 00:34:19and fans became a staple of renaissance women,
- 00:34:22elite renaissance women's accessories
- 00:34:24and her happens to be particularly spectacular.
- 00:34:27And in our exhibition we imitate Isotta's fan
- 00:34:32by mounting the V and A's fan handle
- 00:34:34with a modern, as in made in 2019,
- 00:34:37pink and white feather component.
- 00:34:40And the feather component is the work
- 00:34:41of The Frick's associate conservator Julia Day.
- 00:34:45Now I don't know how you will feel
- 00:34:46about pink and white feathers
- 00:34:48but I hope you'll agree that it's important
- 00:34:50to contextualize the handle
- 00:34:52which would never have been seen
- 00:34:53in the renaissance denuded of its feathers.
- 00:34:57By the way they are marabou feathers
- 00:34:58which today usually means turkey,
- 00:35:01the downy under tail which has the furry feel.
- 00:35:04Yes, you can order them online.
- 00:35:06(audience laughing)
- 00:35:08We display alongside Isotta a pendant cross
- 00:35:12of emeralds and pearls similar
- 00:35:14to the one in the painting.
- 00:35:16Which in the painting it's four rubies
- 00:35:18around a single emerald.
- 00:35:20The jewel and this type was popular in Spain
- 00:35:23and among associates of the Spanish court
- 00:35:25like Isotta Brembati was.
- 00:35:26The example on the right is on loan
- 00:35:28from the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore
- 00:35:30and its profusion of emeralds,
- 00:35:3211 large stones suggests that it might have been made
- 00:35:36after the Spanish colonized Colombia in the late 1550s
- 00:35:41just after Isotta's portrait was painted,
- 00:35:45and Colombia is still well-known for its emeralds.
- 00:35:49Spain took over the rich Colombian emerald mines
- 00:35:51to export huge quantities into Europe and Asia
- 00:35:55and it raises the question of where Isotta's
- 00:35:57jeweler sourced his stones from.
- 00:35:59Was the composition of stones selected by preference
- 00:36:02four rubies and an emerald,
- 00:36:04or is there only one emerald in her cross
- 00:36:06because they were relatively more difficult to acquire,
- 00:36:10sourced from the exhausted Asian mines
- 00:36:13before the Colombian mines were taken over by Spain.
- 00:36:17Most people don't notice when they look at the portrait
- 00:36:20because it doesn't stand out very much
- 00:36:22but around her neck
- 00:36:24she's wearing a marten fur,
- 00:36:27an animal of the weasel family.
- 00:36:29With a gold and enameled jeweled head,
- 00:36:32pearl earrings hanging from its ears.
- 00:36:35Just one jeweled marten head in gold
- 00:36:39and precious stones survived from the renaissance
- 00:36:42and these kinds of objects were often melted down
- 00:36:44and reconstituted in new jewelry
- 00:36:47according to changing tastes and fashions
- 00:36:49and when money was needed.
- 00:36:52This comes to us also on loan from the Walters Art Museum.
- 00:36:55What were these things?
- 00:36:57And at the top there's a view of the Walters
- 00:37:00marten head jewel attached to a modern pelt,
- 00:37:03a modern fur, like the fan.
- 00:37:04I think it's important to contextualize
- 00:37:06the jewel mounted on an animal pelt,
- 00:37:08and this is how the object is displayed
- 00:37:10permanently at the Walters.
- 00:37:13For those of you who've never encountered
- 00:37:15a marten fur before,
- 00:37:17I've explained in the past
- 00:37:18that they're sort of like pets
- 00:37:20that keep you warm but are dead.
- 00:37:23(audience laughing)
- 00:37:24But they are more complex than that.
- 00:37:26First and foremost, they were a symbol of luxury and wealth
- 00:37:30and they became very popular among
- 00:37:32wealthy Italian renaissance women
- 00:37:33from the late 15th century through the 16th century.
- 00:37:36Symbolically they're associated
- 00:37:38with chastity and childbirth.
- 00:37:40Indeed in the renaissance,
- 00:37:42chastity and childbirth were not mutually exclusive.
- 00:37:45And since the 19th century, scholars have also believed
- 00:37:49that they functioned as flea pelts,
- 00:37:52purportedly to attract fleas off of the human
- 00:37:56and onto the pelt.
- 00:37:58Now this theory is widely accepted
- 00:38:00though it's been seriously questioned.
- 00:38:02Like why would a flea want to leave
- 00:38:04the flesh of a warm human
- 00:38:06for a cold, dead animal?
- 00:38:08In any case, the fur part was as valuable in the renaissance
- 00:38:12as was the jeweled head.
- 00:38:14Some renaissance women carried just the pelts
- 00:38:17and this is a portrait of Isotta Brembati's aunt,
- 00:38:20Lucina Brembati painted by Lorenzo Lotto
- 00:38:23in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo
- 00:38:25in which the pelt is carried by a collar around its neck.
- 00:38:31It's through looking at rare objects like this
- 00:38:34that the viewer can appreciate the material
- 00:38:36reality of these things,
- 00:38:37the technical challenges they pose for the painter
- 00:38:40and how incredibly lavish such objects were,
- 00:38:43many of them being works of art in themselves.
- 00:38:46The gold head is a sheet of gold,
- 00:38:49hammered nearly paper thin,
- 00:38:51enameled and gilded, in some places
- 00:38:54gilded on top of the enamel,
- 00:38:55for example on the big white bird above the nose.
- 00:38:59And its tooled to simulate the texture of fur,
- 00:39:01mount with garnets, seed pearls and a large ruby.
- 00:39:05The whiskers are synthetic,
- 00:39:06the tongue moves.
- 00:39:08And I'll just reiterate that the objects in exhibition
- 00:39:10are not the exact objects
- 00:39:12depicted in the paintings.
- 00:39:13Those are probably long gone if they ever existed.
- 00:39:16The exhibition objects are representative of these types,
- 00:39:19things that Moroni would have seen.
- 00:39:21But as much as the portrait seems to record
- 00:39:24in meticulous detail all of Isotta's status symbols
- 00:39:27and her apparently unidealized face,
- 00:39:30this is not a snapshot to use an anachronistic term,
- 00:39:34a snapshot of reality.
- 00:39:36And so I'll point your attention to her fabulous dress.
- 00:39:39Green with gold brocade
- 00:39:40and now you know very well
- 00:39:42how that brocade would have been made,
- 00:39:43and how much hand wound gold thread that would take.
- 00:39:47Considering weaving techniques used in the renaissance,
- 00:39:50it would be extremely unusual to have a dress like this
- 00:39:54whose pattern grows so dramatically
- 00:39:57from the bodice to the skirt.
- 00:40:00I'm not saying it's impossible,
- 00:40:01few things are impossible in the world
- 00:40:04but it would be extremely unusual
- 00:40:06and very difficult to have a dress like this.
- 00:40:09It seems that Moroni has partly fictionalized her dress.
- 00:40:13It's probably based on a dress she had, she wore
- 00:40:16which he used as a point of departure
- 00:40:18to create a more impressive visual effect.
- 00:40:22And I suggest a similar play with reality
- 00:40:25in the portrait of Gian Girolamo Grumelli
- 00:40:28better known as the Man in Pink,
- 00:40:30also from Palazzo Moroni.
- 00:40:32He was, by the way, Isotta's husband
- 00:40:36and imagine what their closets look like.
- 00:40:38(audience laughing)
- 00:40:41His pink and silver woven silk clothing
- 00:40:44is just delectable to look at.
- 00:40:47The clothing is almost the protagonist of his portrait.
- 00:40:50But take a look at his sword carrier.
- 00:40:53It seems to be partly invisible
- 00:40:55so there should be a cross strap
- 00:40:57which goes across the front to attach to the scabbard
- 00:41:00as in Gabriel de la Cueva.
- 00:41:02In this case, the cross strap is being pulled up
- 00:41:05because of the angle at which
- 00:41:06Gabriel's rapier is leaning against the plint.
- 00:41:09But the Man in Pink has somehow hid his cross strap
- 00:41:13behind the fabric of his trunk hose
- 00:41:15or Moroni has painted it out
- 00:41:18in order not to interrupt the scintillating pink hose
- 00:41:22with a black line.
- 00:41:24The same goes for the straps at the side,
- 00:41:26they're articulated to support the scabbard
- 00:41:29but nothing actually connects to the belt.
- 00:41:32The straps disappear into thin air.
- 00:41:35Moroni seems to conserve the integrity
- 00:41:38of the pink trunk hose by defying physics.
- 00:41:42And I suspect these liberties taken with Isotta
- 00:41:44and the Man in Pink have gone unnoticed
- 00:41:47by art historians until now
- 00:41:48because the portraits are painted in such a way
- 00:41:51that it seems to be a convincing
- 00:41:53and meticulous representation of reality.
- 00:41:56Now it's interesting to think about
- 00:41:57how these portraits were perceived
- 00:41:59by their first viewers.
- 00:42:01These fictions would have been obvious
- 00:42:03to Moroni's sitters who would know very well
- 00:42:05how a sword carrier is supposed to look
- 00:42:07and who would have been aware
- 00:42:08of the kinds of patterns possible with woven brocade.
- 00:42:12What did they think of Moroni playing with reality
- 00:42:15in a way that's much less obvious to us now?
- 00:42:20Moroni helped to shape his reputation
- 00:42:22as an artist who captured the world as he saw it.
- 00:42:26This portrait of the poet Giovanni Bressani
- 00:42:29on loan from the National Galleries in Scotland,
- 00:42:32if you're noticing that there is something different
- 00:42:34about this portrait, you're right.
- 00:42:37There is much more stuff in it,
- 00:42:39stuff piled on a table that seems
- 00:42:41to distance the viewer
- 00:42:43in a way that none of his other portraits do.
- 00:42:45The way Bressani is painted is also different.
- 00:42:48So individual strokes of paint are apparent.
- 00:42:52There's something stony, a little rigid and dry
- 00:42:55in his articulation of the face.
- 00:42:58Just compare for example the face
- 00:42:59of Gabriele Albani, another older man
- 00:43:03with a face of Bressani.
- 00:43:05One smooth, Bressani is brushy.
- 00:43:08The explanation for this difference
- 00:43:11might be found on the base
- 00:43:13of the foot shaped inkwell in Bressani's portrait.
- 00:43:17Translated from the Latin the inscription says
- 00:43:20Giovanni Battista Moroni painted him
- 00:43:24whom he did not see.
- 00:43:26This message coupled with a date on the portrait
- 00:43:29of 1562, so two years after Bressani's death
- 00:43:33indicates that Moroni probably painted him posthumously.
- 00:43:37So he looks sort of lifeless
- 00:43:38because Moroni did not paint him from life.
- 00:43:42What is more, Moroni probably based his painting
- 00:43:44on a portrait medal on loan to us from a private collection,
- 00:43:48this is suggested by the fact
- 00:43:49that the portrait medal shows Bressani with a skull cap,
- 00:43:53with a circular ornament on the front
- 00:43:55and a knot at the temple.
- 00:43:56This is not apparent in the painting
- 00:43:59but they are in x-rays of it.
- 00:44:02So Moroni seems to have started
- 00:44:04with the same head decoration as the medal
- 00:44:06and either painted it out
- 00:44:07or the details have been obscured over time.
- 00:44:11The inscription on the inkwell,
- 00:44:13I did not see this man seems to explain
- 00:44:16why it looks so different from his other portraits.
- 00:44:19Those he sees with his own eyes it seems to say
- 00:44:22he can paint as his eyes saw them
- 00:44:24but he adjusts his style to articulate
- 00:44:28that this sitter was not studied from life.
- 00:44:31In a way Moroni's self-consciously shapes
- 00:44:34his own artistic persona.
- 00:44:37I'm reaching the end of my lecture.
- 00:44:41And to close I wanna share a few thoughts about Moroni
- 00:44:44that came out of having produced this exhibition.
- 00:44:47One is that the sense of the local
- 00:44:49is important to Moroni's career
- 00:44:52and in these two portraits
- 00:44:53from the National Gallery of Ireland on the left
- 00:44:55and I showed you the one on the right earlier on.
- 00:44:58In both, a single word is legible
- 00:45:01on the letters on the table and in the hand.
- 00:45:04The name of a city on the left, Albino,
- 00:45:08Moroni's birthplace.
- 00:45:10And on the right, written on the letter in his hand,
- 00:45:14Bergamo, also where he spent most of his life.
- 00:45:17These men were probably from these cities
- 00:45:19or lived in them.
- 00:45:20They were of Moroni's world.
- 00:45:24Moroni's geographic limitations
- 00:45:26seemed to have shaped his career and fame or lack of it
- 00:45:29but his world was much broader than this.
- 00:45:31Bergamo was at the crossroads of Spanish Milan and Venice,
- 00:45:35gateways to the rest of the world.
- 00:45:37So even if he did not travel,
- 00:45:39people and objects came to him.
- 00:45:41So another important role of the objects in the show
- 00:45:43is to make this point, however subtly,
- 00:45:46German prints made their way to him,
- 00:45:48probably German armor too.
- 00:45:50I didn't talk about the armor
- 00:45:51but you can see it in the exhibition.
- 00:45:53Spanish patrons like Gabriel de la Cueva,
- 00:45:56a Spanish duke who became governor of Milan
- 00:45:58a few years after Moroni painted him.
- 00:46:00And Spanish culture like Isotta's pendant cross,
- 00:46:03goods from America, from the new world.
- 00:46:06Moroni was not a world traveler
- 00:46:08but his world was rich nonetheless.
- 00:46:11There's much about Moroni that we don't fully understand
- 00:46:14including his techniques, his process.
- 00:46:16How did he achieve naturalism
- 00:46:18for which he is so well-known?
- 00:46:21I haven't even touched on the one portrait drawing
- 00:46:24that has been attributed to Moroni, not unanimously
- 00:46:28in the GDSU in Florence
- 00:46:30which raises more questions than answers
- 00:46:32about how he made his portraits.
- 00:46:34Or the first evidence of under drawing
- 00:46:36in a Moroni portrait discovered in preparation
- 00:46:39for this exhibition in The Met's Lucrezia Agliardi Vertova,
- 00:46:42so we're continuing to investigate
- 00:46:44these aspects of his art.
- 00:46:46And regarding Moroni himself,
- 00:46:48not a single document related to any work of art,
- 00:46:52paintings, portraits he produced has been found
- 00:46:56nor any portraits of Moroni.
- 00:46:58So one self-portrait has been proposed,
- 00:47:01the figure in brown in the crowd
- 00:47:03in the Assumption of The Virgin
- 00:47:05which I showed you at the start of this talk.
- 00:47:07I'm sure you remember it well, it's so distinctive.
- 00:47:10A late work.
- 00:47:12There's no external evidence to support this
- 00:47:15but some say it looks like
- 00:47:17a good candidate for a self-portrait,
- 00:47:19that sort of modest looking chap peering out at us.
- 00:47:24We don't know why he made the geographic decisions he did,
- 00:47:27why he remained so close to home.
- 00:47:30Whatever motivated this decision,
- 00:47:31it appears to have had significant repercussions
- 00:47:34for the kind of career that he had.
- 00:47:36And he may have been very happy
- 00:47:39with the kind of career that he had.
- 00:47:42Moroni's portraits, his best portraits
- 00:47:45showcase his brilliance
- 00:47:47that the Man in Pink's gravity defying
- 00:47:50sword carrier seems to have gone unnoticed for so long
- 00:47:54may be a testament to the power of his illusions,
- 00:47:57the spell they can cast on his viewers.
- 00:48:00Over the last week I've seen the spell at work
- 00:48:03as visitors stand in front of this
- 00:48:05and other paintings in the oval room and east gallery.
- 00:48:09There are many questions yet to answer
- 00:48:11about Moroni's portraits but one thing is crystal clear.
- 00:48:15Moroni's portraits reward and deserve another look.
- 00:48:19And so I invite you to look again at Moroni
- 00:48:22in the galleries which will be open until 7:30.
- 00:48:25Thank you very much.
- 00:48:26(audience applauding)
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