The Representation Of Women In Fifteenth Century

P Essay, Research Paper

The Representation of Women in Fifteenth Century Italian Portraiture The Italian Renaissance was a time of rebirth, a burgeoning ofinterest in the classical arts and sciences. Portraiture as a genrewas on the increase, fuelled by a growing introspection throughwhich man was becoming aware of the innate characteristics that madehim an individual. Burckhardt, in _The Civilisation of RenaissanceItaly_, devotes a chapter to tracing the representation ofindividual personalities in Renaissance literature. On reading hispremise that, ‘the development of personality is essentiallyinvolved in the recognition of it in oneself and in others.’(Burckhardt,1878), it can be seen that this statement is of primeimportance when discussing portraiture of the same period. Oncecapturing a personality and not just a likeness became desirable, achange started in the way portraiture was seen. It takes time before the desire to portray character overcomesthe convention of depicting women in a profile format, like AlessoBaldovinetto’s _Portrait of a Lady in Yellow_ of c. 1465. Profileportraits were an accepted practice that continued to be popularduring the entire fifteenth century. The fifteenth century was usedto seeing profile portraits in the donor paintings of theirchurches, a format that no doubt helped to distinguish donors fromreligious figures, as can be seen in Masaccio’s _The Trinity withthe Virgin and St. John_. Although there was no taboo oncontemporary figures sharing the same space as religious figures,there were obvious distinctions made between, usually in terms ofscale and costume. This leads us to a possible reason why theprofile portrait remained in use in Italy when the rest of Europewas already more commonly utilising a three-quarter face format forportraits. It is possible that during the early part of thefifteenth century there was a taint of profanity around theportrayal of secular figures in a manner usually reserved forreligious figures. The profile portrait also retained its popularityin Italy due to the influence of Roman coins. Portrait medals, basedon Roman coinage, were produced in fifteenth century Italy and weremade for presentation and for commemoration. In the Baldovinettoportrait we can see the remoteness and dignity that such a formatbestows on the portrayal of the sitter. Her silhoutte becomes afluid line, defined against the flat background, and along with herdistant gaze, promotes her remoteness from the viewer. The dignitythat is acquired comes at the expense of individuality. The woman inthis portrait becomes as emblematic as the motif of palm leaves onher sleeve. In male portraiture this reduction of the humanphysiognomy to emblem reinforces the portrayal of status. In GentileBellini’s painting of Doge Giovanni Mocenigo, what remains is theimpression of a powerful man, the upholder of an important officecloaked in the garb of his rank. However, in the _Portrait of a Ladyin Yellow_, the sitter’s status is generic, conforming tocontemporary conventions of beauty applicable to all women.Boccaccio, a fourteenth century poet, describes in the _Tesidea_ theappearance of a beautiful woman, using conventions that were toremain in place throughout the fifteenth century; ‘I say that her tresses seemed as gold … and combed so that not a single knot was in them, and they fell on the support of her shining white shoulders … Her brow was ample and spacious, and white and level and very delicate, beneath which in a twisting arch terminating almost in a half circle were two eyebrows … Beneath these were two shining eyes … They were serious and long and well seated, and brown as others never were’ (Boccaccio, _Tesidea_, quoted by Dempsey) Considering this quote, can we be sure that Baldovinetti’s sitterhad hair as golden as her dress, that her eyes were the shade ofbrown we see in the picture, whether indeed her eyes were brown atall. To what extent did contemporary ideals of beauty becomeoverlaid onto the likenesses of women. It is impossible to tell, butthe way this unknown sitter corresponds to Fifteenth Century idealsof beauty must give cause to doubt the accuracy of herrepresentation. With no spark of her individual character, and withdoubts at the veracity of her portrayal, she is left mute, a symbolof the wealth and good character of the family whose emblem shedisplays so dominantly on her sleeve. By the end of the fifteenth century, the portrayal of women in

portraiture was becoming markedly different. The profile conventionwas gradually overcome by three-quarter views, falling into linewith the way men had more commonly been represented from the middlehalf of the century. In _Portrait of a Girl_, a painting from theworkshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio the format gives the sitter morepresence, and the artist more scope for exploring facialcharacteristics. She does, however, still conform to the ideals ofbeauty and deportment of her age. Her static pose and averted gazecause her to be an object to be gazed on just as much as the figurein Baldovinetti’s _Portrait of a Lady in Yellow_. The change comeswith Leonardo Da Vinci, and can be seen in his _The Lady with theErmine_, a portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, mistress of LudovicoSforza. With her head and body turned at different angles, aposition that is impossible to hold for any length of time, the posebecomes mobile. The viewer is aware of the unnerving possibility ofher gaze travelling to meet the