 |
| The Victoria & Albert Museum |
This is truly exceptional. After over five hundred years, her face is still as dewy and lovely as the day it was painted. I rather like the way the V&A has described this item, so I will quote directly, “This idealized face once presided over a small, round mirror.” Isn’t that a charming thought?
You see, in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries especially in Italy and France, beauty was thought to be a virtue, and it was believed that gazing upon a beautiful face would inspire virtue in the viewer. So, having an attractive face above your mirror might just—by way of your eyes—make you equally attractive.
I suppose now I should paste some pictures from White Collar or Downton Abbey above my bathroom mirror. Maybe it’ll work.
This mirror frame was made in Siena, Italy circa 1475-1500. The relief of the woman’s face is painted papier mache (cartapesta in Italian)! How has it managed to survive?! The frame was supported by two putti with outstretched arms. The woman depicted wears a jewel in her elaborately dressed hair, a gold dress flows from her bodice and she is adorned with a coral necklace and pendant.
It is thought that this came from the workshop of sculptor Neroccio de' Landi (born 1447 - died 1500) since the figure very closely resembles the Mary Magdalene in Neroccio's painting of a Madonna and Child from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Washington. Furthermore she resembles the “Portrait of a Lady” by Neroccio in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Similarities in facial structure, coloring and even pose suggest that the same model was used for all three.
No comments:
Post a Comment