The Faces of Florence
Fifteenth-century portraits at the National Gallery of Art.

By Melissa Seckora, NR editorial associate
October 6-8, 2001

company of 15-century Florentine portraits has arrived in Washington, D.C., and will remain on view through the new year at the National Gallery of Art. Featuring the gallery's serene likeness of "Ginevra de' Benci" (c. 1474-78) by Leonardo da Vinci, the show, Virtue & Beauty: Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women, presents over 40 rare works, including several male portraits, and a smaller grouping of marble sculptures, medals, and drawings.

Pulling together almost all of the most important examples of the genre (a few pieces would not have traveled well), the exhibition focuses on female portraiture in Florence from c. 1440 to c. 1540, a time when portraiture was a requisite part of the matrimonial process, by such masters as Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Fra Filippo Lippi. Fifteenth century Florence was also a time when virtue and beauty were intertwined in the Renaissance mind. As David Alan Brown, the gallery's curator of Italian Renaissance paintings, suggests in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, it is during this period in Florence that female portraiture blossomed. The progression of Florentine portraiture, therefore, is observed throughout the exhibition in the dramatic shift from the painted profile to the three-quarter or frontal view; in the transformation of scale, decoration, and meaning. "

Striking examples of traditional "Ruler Portraits" open the show, including Ercole de' Roberti's nuptial pair, "Giovanni Il Bentivoglio" (c. 1475) and "Ginevra Sforza Bentivoglio" (c. 1475). Despite the pair's recent conservation treatment, here we see traditional portraiture — the profile view, richly adorned, against the backdrop of the territory the couple governed — at its finest. In this opening gallery, you will also find examples of early Florentine profiles by Filippo Lippi, including the earliest, surviving independent female portrait from Florence, "Women with a Man at a Window" (c. 1438-44). These works show not only the physical features of the bride and groom, but exactly how much they were worth. For example, the women almost always wear rich, velvet gowns, beaded head broaches, and strands of fine jewels.

At the heart of the show is Leonardo's "Ginevra de' Benci" (the only portrait by da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere). Though the somber beauty of Ginevra is by far the most spectacular aspect of this portrait, the complete work includes a painted reverse. The reverse entwines laurel, palm, and juniper, symbols of love, honor, and chastity, with the Latin inscription virtutem for ma decorat, meaning "Beauty is the Ornament of Virtue." Other works that include painted reverses are Jacometto Veneziano's playing card-size portraits "Alvise Contarini" (c. 1485-95) and its reverse, "Chained Deer," and "Portrait of a Lady" (c. 1485-95) and its reverse, "Female Figure in a Landscape."

Between the lovely mix of Florentine dowry portraits, several works on display by northern European artists are arranged for comparison, including Rogier van der Weyden's "Portrait of a Lady" (c. 1460), and two devotional panels by Petrus Christus, "Portrait of a Male Donor" (c. 1455) and "Portrait of a Female Donor" (c. 1455). These works demonstrate, as the museum notes, the growing international character of 15th-century portraiture in northern Europe and Italy.

Also on display here are four especially beautiful examples by Botticelli, including his legendary beauty, "Young Woman (Simonetta Vespucci?) in Mythological Guise" (c. 1480-85). Her lavish costume, golden tresses, pearly skin, and sparkling eyes, are not unlike other works in the show which reflect the canon of corporeal beauty found in the poems of Dante and Petrarch. Indeed, the woman pictured here is thought to be a fictional rendering of the characteristics Petrarch ascribed to his beloved Laura.

Not to be overlooked is Ghirlandaio's portrait "Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni" (c. 1488-90), the most admired and talked about Florentine portraits. Giovanna's likeness was painted posthumously. Here we find her, not yet 20 years old, seated in the Tornabuoni Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria Novella.

Aside from the annoying commentary in the exhibition catalogue on the social role of women during the Renaissance, Virtue & Beauty is indeed a looker. The nature of these women — their demure, quiet, dignified, and discreet presence — makes the display fascinating.

Art Notes
Leonardo da Vinci, "Ginevra de' Benci," c. 1474. Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.

Jacometto Veneziano, "Alvise Contarini" (reverse of Chained Deer), c. 1485-1495, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975.

Jacometto Veneziano, "Chained Deer" (reverse of Alvise Contarini ), c. 1485-1495, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975.

Sandro Botticelli, "Young Woman (Simonetta Vespucci?) in Mythological Guise," c. 1480-1485. Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main.

Virtue & Beauty will remain on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. through January 6, 2002. The show will not travel.