Among the most ambitious works undertaken by Hans Holbein the Younger during his first visit to England was a monumental portrait of Sir Thomas More and his household, painted around 1527. The original, measuring approximately eight by thirteen feet, was destroyed in a fire at Kremsier Castle, in present-day Czechia, in 1752. Its disappearance representsContinue reading “Hans Holbein the Younger: The Lost Portrait of Sir Thomas More’s Family”
Tag Archives: Renaissance portraiture
Titian and Isabella d’Este: The Truth of a Portrait
Two painted versions of Isabella d’Este have come to define her association with Titian, although neither records a simple encounter between painter and sitter. One, generally called Isabella in Red, is known principally through a copy made by Peter Paul Rubens after a lost Titian and shows Isabella as a mature woman. The other, IsabellaContinue reading “Titian and Isabella d’Este: The Truth of a Portrait”
Leonardo and Isabella d’Este: The Life of a Drawing
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”
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”
