Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror
Encyclopedia
Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror (c. 1524) is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance
artist Parmigianino
. It is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
, Vienna
, Austria
.
, who lists it as one of three small-size paintings that the artist brought to Rome with him in 1525. He describes the self-portrait as an example of the painter's capabilities to show to potential customers.
The portrait was donated to pope Clement VII, and later to writer Pietro Aretino
, in whose house Vasari himself, then still a child, saw it. It was later acquired by Vicentine sculptor Valerio Belli
and, after his death in 1546, by his son Elio. Through the intercession of Andrea Palladio
, in 1560 the work went to Venetian sculptor Alessandro Vittoria
, who assigned it in heritage to emperor Rudolf II
. It arrived in Prague
in 1608, and later it become part of the Habsburg imperial collections in Vienna (1777), although attributed to Correggio.
Other details of the room show the relative wealth of the painter's family: a coffer
ed ceiling and the window which could partially covered with a cloth, as typical of painter's workshops.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
artist Parmigianino
Parmigianino
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola , also known as Francesco Mazzola or more commonly as Parmigianino or sometimes "Parmigiano", was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma...
. It is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
History
The work is mentioned by Late Renaissance art biographer Giorgio VasariGiorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
, who lists it as one of three small-size paintings that the artist brought to Rome with him in 1525. He describes the self-portrait as an example of the painter's capabilities to show to potential customers.
The portrait was donated to pope Clement VII, and later to writer Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino was an Italian author, playwright, poet and satirist who wielded immense influence on contemporary art and politics and invented modern literate pornography.- Life :...
, in whose house Vasari himself, then still a child, saw it. It was later acquired by Vicentine sculptor Valerio Belli
Valerio Belli
thumb|150px|right|A large bronze [[Casting |cast]] [[Medal|medallion]] created by Belli in the early sixteenth century.Valerio Belli , also known as Valerio Vicentino, was a celebrated medallist and engraver of gems noted by the art historian Giorgio Vasari...
and, after his death in 1546, by his son Elio. Through the intercession of Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
, in 1560 the work went to Venetian sculptor Alessandro Vittoria
Alessandro Vittoria
Alessandro Vittoria was an Italian Mannerist sculptor of the Venetian school, "one of the main representatives of the Venetian classical style" and rivalling Giambologna as the foremost sculptors of the late 16th century in Italy....
, who assigned it in heritage to emperor Rudolf II
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
. It arrived in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in 1608, and later it become part of the Habsburg imperial collections in Vienna (1777), although attributed to Correggio.
Description
The painting depicts the young artist (then twenty one) in the middle of a room, distorted by the use of a convex mirror. The hair is wedge cut. The hand in the foreground, which is holding the mirror, is greatly elongated and deformed. The little finger has a small mirror and the pleated sleeve is painted with quick white brushstrokes. The clothes, painted with the same technique, are fur garments used at the time during the Pianura Padana winters.Other details of the room show the relative wealth of the painter's family: a coffer
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
ed ceiling and the window which could partially covered with a cloth, as typical of painter's workshops.
See also
- Self-portraitSelf-portraitA self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting...
- John AshberyJohn AshberyJohn Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
-- the portrait is the subject of a long poem in a poetry collection by Ashbery, both the poem and the collection of the same name. The collection won all three of the major annual prizes awarded to books of poetry.