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| Portrait of a Man (about 1475-6) |
Portrait of a Man? That sounds pretty
unspectacular, doesn’t it? But look at the picture for an instance: Who is that
guy? Why does he stare at us like that? And why couldn’t he even shave properly
for his own portrait?
Let’s
start with the artist of this painting: Antonello da Messina. He was born
around 1430 in Sicily and trained in Naples. At that time the city was pretty
much a cosmopolitan art center, which means Antonello probably got to know the
Flemish artists such as Jan van Eyck (who painted the Arnolfini Portrait we
discussed in class). Vasari made up the legend, in which Messina studied with
van Eyck in Flanders and after that actually introduced the art of oil painting
in Italy. Modern art historians very much doubt this story but it can’t be
denied though, that Messina was one of the first artists in Italy, who worked
with this new method. In class we talked about how oil paint qualifies for a
detailed and precise way of painting.
In
this portrait Antonello shows us exactly this feature, which made oil painting
so popular. The face of the man is painted in an exceedingly fine and realistic
way. We can point out his beard stubble with the pores just darkening, the hair,
which is sticking out under the red cap, the smooth skin tones; even the blouse
looks as if one can feel the soft leather of it. (For a closer view click
here!) Antonello portrayed this man in remarkably details, which celebrates the
new Renaissance art of painting.
We
discussed the fact, that portraits became more important during the Renaissance
in class. Antonello though takes a step forward. He doesn’t just present us a
typical Italian noble man, who commissioned his own portrait but an unknown
middle-upper class man*, who above all sees us directly in the eyes. It is a
look with emotional strength and intelligence. The look of a Renaissance man,
who seems to has more important things to think about than shaving.
With
this post I wanted to introduce you to another brilliant painter, who is not
mentioned in our textbook but who definitely exercised the art of oil painting
in an astonishing way.
Sources:
*According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_a_Man_%28Antonello_da_Messina,_London%29
Very interesting! I love how so many pieces of art have this special backstory or secret mystery behind them.
ReplyDeleteI think the significance of this seemingly simple portrait is very interesting.
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