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‘No painting on earth would be more beautiful’: an analysis of Giovanna degli Albizzi's portrait inscription
Author(s) -
DePrano Maria
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
renaissance studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1477-4658
pISSN - 0269-1213
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-4658.2008.00532.x
Subject(s) - portrait , art , context (archaeology) , painting , wife , literature , humanism , interpretation (philosophy) , meaning (existential) , art history , poetry , humanities , history , philosophy , linguistics , theology , archaeology , epistemology
Domenico Ghirlandaio has been accepted as the author and speaker of the epigram written on the fictive parchment posted behind Giovanna degli Albizzi in her profile portrait, lamenting the limit of his skills to fully represent her. However, the patronage context of this work, processes of composing art, as well as the realities of artistic education and social status in Quattrocento Florence suggest that another speaker uttered these words and intended a different meaning. An analysis of inscriptions in the small sorority of women's portraits bearing a text demonstrates that these epithets carry three messages: to name the women, declare their virtues or mourn their death. Examining her likeness within the patronage context of her conjugal family and her early death, this essay gives a new interpretation of Giovanna's epigram, arguing that her portrait and inscription, a slightly modified version of a verse by Martial, convey all three messages. Giovanna's husband, the learned and poetic Lorenzo Tornabuoni, is identified as the probable speaker of the portrait's lines, which he may have written with the assistance of his friend, the humanist Angelo Poliziano, to express his wistful desire for his deceased wife's return.