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25 août 2011

'Renaissance Faces. Masterpieces of Italian Portraiture' @ Bode-Museum

08_Leonardo_1

Leonardo da Vinci, Lady with an Ermine (portrait of Cecilia Gallerani), 1489/90 Kraków, owned by Princes Czartoryski Foundation, at the National Museum © bpk / Scala

BERLIN.- The Gemäldegalerie— National Museums in Berlin and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, have joined forces in organizing a major exhibition on the genesis of the Italian portrait. For Berlin, the Bode Museum presents itself as the ideal location to hold such an exhibition: on its opening in 1904, it was conceived by its founder, Wilhelm von Bode, as a ‘Renaissance Museum’ on the Museum Island. The Bode Museum will host the first stage of the exhibition, running from 25 August to 20 November 2011, before it subsequently goes on show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, from 19 December 2011 to 18 March 2012.

01_Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti, Self-portrait, c 1432/34 Washington, National Gallery of Art © Art Resource, New York

More than 150 key works, including paintings, drawings, medals and busts, are about to go on display for the first time together. The more than 50 lenders include the Uffizi in Florence, the Louvre in Paris and the National Gallery in London. Among the exhibition’s many highlights is Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Lady with an Ermine’ from the Czartoryski Collection, Cracow.

02_Botticelli_Giuliano

Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici, c 1478 Washington, National Gallery of Art © Art Resource, New York

The exhibition highlights depictions of the appearance and personality of real people. Portraits of feminine beauty vie with portraits of generals, princes and humanists, offering us a fascinating insight into the age of the early Renaissance.

03_Desiderio

Desiderio da Settignano (?), Portrait of Niccolò da Uzzano, c 1450-55 Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello © Soprintendenza Polo Museale Fiorentino, Florence

At the heart of the exhibition stands the Italian Renaissance portrait. The Italian art of portraiture evolved under the influence of antique models. However, it was equally shaped by the innovations of the great Netherlandish painters. The history of the art of portraiture, from Pisanello up to Verrocchio, Botticelli, Bellini and Leonardo, is retold in a selection of magnificent and sensational key works, including paintings, sculptures, medals and drawings. The exhibition focuses both on the art produced at the Italian courts, as well as the development of the portrait in Florence and Venice.

04_Filippo_Lippi

Filippo Lippi, Portrait of a Man and a Woman at a Casement, c 1440 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A unique architectural and lighting concept, especially designed for the exhibition, takes into account the individual qualities of each exhibit in its presentation. Of crucial importance here is the aesthetic experience, both of the quality of the artworks and of the materials used in creating them.

06_Isabella_Medal

Gian Cristoforo Romano, Portrait Medal of Isabella d'Este, Avers, c 1498 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum © Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

The artistic diversity evident in these early portraits, the various roles the images served and their historical contexts all resonate with suspense. The Gemäldegalerie—National Museums in Berlin and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York embarked on an intense collaboration to present this to the general public. Masterpieces from New York and the rich collections of the National Museums in Berlin, not just from the Gemäldegalerie itself but also from the Sculpture Collection, Kupferstichkabinett and Numismatic Collection, offer visitors an unprecedented insight into this epoch. Furthermore, for the first time the show in the Bode Museum also encompasses all media of Italian Renaissance portraiture—medals, drawings, sculptures and panel paintings.

05_Ghirlandaio

Domenico Ghirlandaio, Portrait of an Old Man and His Grandson, c 1490 Paris, Musée du Louvre © Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris

Portraits—either in the form of a painting, photograph and less often a medal—have become commonplace today, but between the 5th and 15th century independent portraits of individual people were rare and the exclusive reserve of rulers and historic figures. Only in the 15th century did it again become customary for artists on both sides of the Alps to produce independent portraits of men and women. Today’s exhibition ‘Renaissance Faces’ pays homage to Italy’s contribution to this first great age of European portraiture and conveys a sense of the innovative ways in which artists responded to the challenge of creating individual portraits and how they explored questions of identity that arose as a result.

07_Leonardo_2

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici, c 1480 Windsor, Collection of Her Majesty, Queen Elisabeth II © bpk / Scala

When selecting the exhibits, the organizers’ chief aim was to highlight the prevailing conventions and decisive innovations in a period spanning more than eight decades. Set against the backdrop of Italy’s geographical, political and cultural complexities in the 15th century, the exhibition is divided into three clearly outlined thematic sections. The first of these is Florence, as it was here that the independent portrait first appeared on a significant scale. The visitor’s gaze is then directed to the courts of Ferrara, Mantua, Bologna, Milan, Urbino, Naples and finally papal Rome. The circle is then completed in Venice, where a portrait tradition only established itself remarkably late in the century. In each section, works in all media are juxtaposed with each other to give visitors the chance to see for themselves how the various art forms mutually influenced each other with their own unique qualities.

09_Pisanello

Pisanello (Antonio Pisano) Portrait of Leonello d'Este, c 1444, Bergamo, Accademia Carrara © Accademia Carrara, Bergamo

In a society dominated by family descent and social hierarchies, conventions were binding. And it is precisely these conventions that are depicted in profile portraits from 15th-century Italy. Profile portraits were equally popular as reliefs or paintings. Compared with the far more naturalistic art produced north of the Alps, which people in 15th-century Italy were definitely familiar with, this form of portrait seems at first a little surprising, as the Italian artists present the sitters in a soft light and at a slight angle to the picture plane. The sitters are seen standing either at a window or behind a parapet and gaze at the viewer. Sometimes a hand is seen resting on the edge of the painted frame. When looking at these images, it is clear that Italian portraits are not primarily concerned with achieving an accurate likeness, at least not in the conventional sense. Italian portraits do not so much reveal personality, rather convey social conventions and cultural identity.

10_Pollaiuolo_Berlin

Antonio del Pollaiuolo Portrait of a Young Lady, c 1465 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Gemäldegalerie © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

The profile portrait was frequently given such exceptional importance in Italy, because it largely drew from Roman coins and reliefs for inspiration. But the profile portrait has always been the most elementary form of capturing someone’s likeness. Informal, direct and frontal views have become so familiar to us in portraits today thanks to photography that we first have to be resensitized to the unique possibilities inherent in the profile portrait. For one, it makes it possible to objectify a person’s outer appearance and allows physiognomies to convey cultural meaning. The pleasing aspect of a high forehead, the refinement or contemptuousness expressed in a raised brow, the aristocratic curve of a nose and the severity or gentleness of a chin and jawline—all these are physiognomical characteristics that come to stand as emblems for beauty, rank and power.

12_Andrea_dAssisi

Andrea d'Assisi Portrait of a Boy, c 1495/1500 Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister © Gemäldegalerie Dresden

16_DesideriodaSettignano_BsteMariettaStrozzi

Desiderio da Settignano (attributed) Bust of a Young Woman (Marietta Strozzi ?), c 1460 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Sculpture Collection © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

13_SandroBotticelli_ProfilbildniseinerjungenFrau

Sandro Botticelli Profile Portrait of a Young Lady (Simonetta Vespucci?), c 1476 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Gemäldegalerie © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

19_DavideGhirlandaio_BrustbilderjungerMannesundKnabe

Davide Ghirlandaio (?) Bust Portraits of a Young Man and a Boy, c 1480 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

14_AndreaMantegna_BildnisKardinalsLudovicoTrevisano

Andrea Mantegna Portrait of Cardinal Ludovico Trevisano, c 1459 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Gemäldegalerie © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

17_MinodaFiesole_BstedesNiccoloStrozzi

Mino da Fiesole Bust of Niccolò Strozzi, 1454 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Sculpture Collection © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

11_Pollaiuolo_Mailand

Antonio del Pollaiuolo Portrait of a Young Woman, c 1465/70 Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli © Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan

20_Pisanello_MedailleaufJohannesVIIIPalologos

Pisanello Medal of John VIII Palaiologos, 1438/39 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Numismatic Collection © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

15_AntonellodaMessina_BildniseinesjungenMannes

Antonello da Messina Portrait of a Young Man, 1478 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Gemäldegalerie © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

18_GentileBellini_BildniseinesMannes

Gentile Bellini Portrait of a Man (self-portrait?), c 1496 Berlin, National Museums in Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett © National Museums in Berlin, Jörg P. Anders

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