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”
Tag Archives: ideal beauty
“The Sublime Heights of Laurels and of Parnassus”: Domenico Zampieri, Il Domenichino (1581–1641)
“Anyone, however, who considered only his lengthy contemplation of things might easily have judged him to be slow and lacking a natural gift, but when he was resolved in his mind and his art, then, with the muses leading him by the hand, he ascended to the sublime heights of laurels and of Parnassus.” GiovanContinue reading ““The Sublime Heights of Laurels and of Parnassus”: Domenico Zampieri, Il Domenichino (1581–1641)”
Inner Surfaces 