Isabella d’Este and Leonardo Isabella d’Este was born in Ferrara in 1474, the daughter of Ercole I d’Este and Eleonora d’Aragona, and in 1490 married Francesco II Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua. Her position at the Mantuan court involved political as well as dynastic responsibilities, while her collecting and patronage brought her into sustained contact withContinue reading “Leonardo and Isabella d’Este: The Life of a Drawing”
Tag Archives: female portraiture
The Depth of the Surface: Vittorio Corcos (1859–1933) and the Art of Appearance
Formation and the vero Vittorio Corcos enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence in November 1875 and progressed with conspicuous ease. Admitted directly to Enrico Pollastrini’s drawing course, he passed his examinations and, in 1876–77, received a silver medal for a figure study copied dal vero. Despite this success, he soon became dissatisfiedContinue reading “The Depth of the Surface: Vittorio Corcos (1859–1933) and the Art of Appearance”
Piero di Cosimo’s Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci: Memory and Invention
A young woman appears in strict profile against a landscape darkening beneath storm clouds. Her pale face is calm and remote, her elaborately plaited hair threaded with pearls and precious stones. Her breasts are uncovered, and around her neck a living serpent winds itself through a gold chain. Along the lower edge of the panel,Continue reading “Piero di Cosimo’s Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci: Memory and Invention”
Inner Surfaces 