Mezzetino (Watteau)
(Redirected from Mezzetino (painting))
| Mezzetino | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Jean-Antoine Watteau |
| Year | c. 1718–1720 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Subject | Mezzetino playing guitar |
| Dimensions | 55.2 cm × 43.2 cm (21.7 in × 17.0 in) |
| Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
| Accession | 34.138 |
Mezzetino (transl. Mezzetin; French: Mézetin) is an oil-on-canvas painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, by the French Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau. Dated within 1717–1720, Mezzetino forms a full-length single-figure composition, depicting the eponymous character in commedia dell'arte. In the 18th century, Mezzetino was owned by Jean de Jullienne, the friend and patron of Watteau who supervised the four-volume edition of prints after the artist's works, for which the picture was engraved by Benoit Audran the Elder; after Jullienne's death in 1766, it was acquired for the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, then recently established by Empress Catherine II of Russia. During the Soviet sales in the 1920s and 1930s, Mezzetino was sold to British-American businessman Calouste Gulbenkian; it was later sold to the Wildenstein art firm in Paris and New York, from which it was bought in 1934 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains; the institution also owns a preparatory study—a drawing of the man's head.[1]
Mezzetino was a comedy character, based on Harlequin but with his own distinctive costume, who was introduced for the first time by the Théâtre italien de Paris actor Angelo Costantini on October 16, 1683. Constantini's expressive face allowed him to portray the role without a mask, a tradition kept alive by all successive Mezzetinos. That novelty attracted Watteau, who featured Mezzetino in several of his works.[2] In the picture, Mezzetino is playing his guitar and singing, his eyes lifted as if towards an unseen balcony. The statue of Venus behind him is facing away, suggesting that his feelings are not shared by the lady she represents. Although the model for Mezzetino is not known, the fact that Jean de Jullienne, who, while selling a number of Watteau's works through his life, still kept Mezzetino, suggests he may have fulfilled the role.[3]
Provenance
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Exhibition history
[edit]| Year | Title | Location | Cat. no. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | A Century of Progress | Art Institute, Chicago | 154[4][5] | ||||||
| 1935 | Exposition de l'art français au XVIIIe siècle / Udstillingen af frankrigs kunst fra det XVIII. aarhundrede | Charlottenborg Palace, Copenhagen | 260 | ||||||
| French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | 5 | |||||||
| 1937 | Chefs d'œuvre de l'art français | Palais National des Arts, Paris | 231 | ||||||
| 1951 | Wildenstein Jubilee Loan Exhibition, 1901-1951: Masterpieces From Museums and Private Collections | Wildenstein & Company Building, New York | 17 | ||||||
| 1952–1953 | Art Treasures of the Metropolitan | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | 127[6] | ||||||
| 1970 | Masterpieces of Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston | *[7] | ||||||
| 1970–1971 | Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | 303[8] | ||||||
| 1977 | Paris — New York, A Continuing Romance | Wildenstein & Company Building, New York | 54 | ||||||
| 1984–1985 | Watteau 1684–1721 | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin | P. 49[9] | ||||||
| 2003–2004 | The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting | National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Gemäldegalerie, Berlin | 10 | ||||||
| 2009 | Watteau, Music, and Theater | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | 12[10] | ||||||
| General references: Grasselli, Rosenberg & Parmantier 1984, pp. 364–365; Baejter 2010. "*" denotes an unnumbered entry. | |||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Mezzetin". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ Moureau 1992, p. 123.
- ^ Grasselli, Rosenberg & Parmantier 1984, p. 364.
- ^ Art Institute, Chicago (1934). Catalogue of A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture. Chicago: Art Institute. p. 27. OCLC 68667579 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Bulliet, C. J. (1934). 1934 Art Masterpieces in a Сentury of Progress (exhibition catalogue). Chicago: Sterling North. p. 37. OCLC 1145795843 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1952). Art Treasures of the Metropolitan (exhibition catalogue). New York: H. N. Abrams. p. 230 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Standen, Edith A. (1970). Masterpieces of Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: New York Graphic Society. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-87099-015-1. OCLC 1036384751 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1970). Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries (exhibition catalogue). New York: Dutton. p. 274. ISBN 0525039503. OCLC 930453793 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Opperman 1988, pp. 356, 359.
- ^ Baetjer 2009, pp. 44–47.
Bibliography
[edit]- Adhémar, Hélène (1950). Watteau; sa vie, son oeuvre (in French). Includes L’univers de Watteau, an introduction by René Huyghe. Paris: P. Tisné. pp. 100, 119, 127, 230; cat. no. 206; pl. 144 (detail), and colorpl. 145. OCLC 853537.
- Allen, Josephine L.; Gardner, Elizabeth L. (1954). A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 102 – via the Internet Archive.
- Androsov, S. O. (2018). Western European Painting of the Fourteenth–Early Twentieth Centuries in the Hermitage Collection (art book) (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: State Hermitage Publishers. p. 26. ISBN 978-5-93572-741-3. OCLC 1110195118.
- Baetjer, Katharine, ed. (2009). Watteau, Music, and Theater. Rosenberg, Pierre (an introduction by); Cowart, Georgia J. (an essay by). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 44–47, 84–85. ISBN 978-1-58839-335-7.
- Baejter, Katherine (2010). "Mezzetin". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
- Baetjer, Katharine (2019). French Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art from the Early Eighteenth Century through the Revolution. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 62–66, cat. no. 10. ISBN 978-1-58839-661-7 – via Google Books.
- Bailey, Colin B., ed. (2003). The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting. New Haven, London, Ottawa: Yale University Press, National Gallery of Canada. pp. 140, 141, 357. ISBN 0-88884-767-X. OCLC 51330581.
- Banks, Oliver T. (1977). Watteau and the North: Studies in the Dutch and Flemish Baroque Influence on French Rococo Painting. New York, London: Garland. pp. 121, 183–84, figs. 35, 119. OCLC 1075255658.
- Barker, G. W. (1939). Antoine Watteau. London: Duckworth. p. 137. OCLC 556817570.
- Benois, A. N. (1997) [originally published ca. 1911]. Путеводитель по картинной галерее Императорского Эрмитажа (in Russian). Moscow: Izobrazitel'noe iskusstvo. ISBN 5-85200-213-5.
- Börsch-Supan, Helmut [in German] (2000). Antoine Watteau, 1684-1721. Meister der französischen Kunst (in German). Köln: Könemann. pp. 124–125. ISBN 3-8290-1630-1. OCLC 925262301.
- Brookner, Anita (1985) [1967]. Watteau. Colour Library of Art. Feltham: Hamlyn. p. 33; colorpl. 37. ISBN 0-600-50156-6. OCLC 922565837 – via the Internet Archive.
- Camesasca, Ettore [in Portuguese] (1971). The Complete Painting of Watteau. Classics of the World's Great Art. Introduction by John Sutherland. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. 121–122, cat. no. 193. ISBN 0810955253. OCLC 143069 – via the Internet Archive.
- Dacier, Émile; Vuaflart, Albert (1922). Jean de Julienne et les graveurs de Watteau au XVIII-e siècle. II. Historique (in French). Paris: M. Rousseau. pp. 58, 67, 93, 97, 102, 132, 151. doi:10.11588/DIGLIT.41976. OCLC 1039154548.
- Dacier, Émile; Vuaflart, Albert (1922). Jean de Julienne et les graveurs de Watteau au XVIII-e siècle. III. Catalogue (in French). Paris: M. Rousseau. pp. 100–101, no. 215. doi:10.11588/DIGLIT.41977. OCLC 1039156495.
- Dargenty, G. (1891). Antoine Watteau. Les Artistes Célèbres (in French). Paris: Librarie de l'Art. p. 63. OCLC 1039952242 – via the Internet Archive.
- Descargues, Pierre (1961). The Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. 25, 31–32, 72. OCLC 829900432.
- Dilke, E. F. (1899). French Painters of the Eighteenth Century. London: G. Bell. p. 82. OCLC 1045594851 – via the Internet Archive.
- Europe in the Age of Monarchy. Introduction by John T. Spike. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. p. 146. ISBN 0-87099-449-2 – via Google Books.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - Gammon, Martin (2018). Deaccessioning and Its Discontents: A Critical History. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 286. ISBN 9780262037587. OCLC 995805826.
- Garnier-Pelle, Nicole (1995). Chantilly, musée Condé. Peintures du xviiie siècle. Inventaire des collections publiques de France (in French). Vol. 38. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux. pp. 134, 152–153. OCLC 33264438.
- Goncourt, Edmond de (1875). Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, dessiné et gravé d'Antoine Watteau. Paris: Rapilly. pp. 80–81. OCLC 1041772738 – via the Internet Archive.
- Grasselli, Margaret Morgan; Rosenberg, Pierre; Parmantier, Nicole; et al. (1984). Watteau, 1684-1721 (PDF) (exhibition catalogue). Washington: National Gallery of Art. ISBN 0-89468-074-9. OCLC 557740787 – via the National Gallery of Art archive.
- Hannover, Emil (1888). "Des Galante Festers Maler" : Antoine Watteau (PDF) (in Danish). Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag. pp. 67, 115.
- Hédouin, P. [in French] (1856). Mosaïque. Peintres, musiciens, littérateurs, artistes dramatiques à partir du 15e siècle jusqu'à nos jours. Paris: Heugel. p. 98. OCLC 1157159285 – via the Internet Archive.
- Herold, Jacques; Vuaflart, Albert (1929). Jean de Julienne et les graveurs de Watteau au XVIII-e siècle. I. Notices et documents biographiques (in French). Paris: M. Rousseau. pp. 223–224. OCLC 1039157338.
- Hildebrandt, Edmund (1923). Antoine Watteau (in German). Berlin: Propyläen-Verlag. pp. 27–29, pl. 5. OCLC 1039987046 – via the Internet Archive.
- Huyghe, René (1970) [1950]. Watteau: The Artist and His Drawings. Translated by Barbara Bray. New York: Braziller. ISBN 978-0-269-02709-3. OCLC 556662493 – via the Internet Archive.
- Mantz, Paul (1892). Antoine Watteau. Paris: Librairie illustrée. pp. 88, 182. OCLC 742536514 – via the Internet Archive.
- Mathey, Jacques (1959). Antoine Watteau. Peintures réapparues inconnues ou négligées par les historiens (in French). Paris: F. de Nobele. pp. 36, 55, 68. OCLC 954214682.
- Mirimonde, Albert Pomme de (November 1961). "Les sujets musicaux chez Antoine Watteau". Gazette des Beaux-Arts (in French). 6.58 (1114): 249–288. OCLC 888153049.
- Mollett, John William (1883). Watteau. Illustrated Biographies of the Great Artists. London: S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington. p. 66, cat. no. 88. OCLC 557720162 – via the Internet Archive.
- Montagni, E. C. (1968). L'opera completa di Watteau. Classici dell'arte (in Italian). Vol. 21. Introduction by Giovanni Macchia. Milano: Rizzoli. p. 122; cat. no. 211. OCLC 1006284992. For the English edition, see Camesasca 1971.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Moureau, François (1992). De Gherardi à Watteau. Paris: Klincksieck. pp. 95, 123. ISBN 978-2-25202-822-3. OCLC 614813362.
- Moureau, François (2011). Le goût italien dans la France rocaille: théâtre, musique, peinture (v. 1680–1750). Paris: Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne. p. 101. ISBN 978-2-84050-731-4. OCLC 1114979618.
- Nicoll, Allardyce (1963). The World of Harlequin: A Critical Study of the Commedia dell'Arte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 78, fig. 51. OCLC 1151791894 – via the Internet Archive.
- Opperman, Hal (June 1988). "Watteau 1684-1721 by Margaret Morgan Grasselli, Pierre Rosenberg and Nicole Parmentier". The Art Bulletin. 70 (2): 354–359. JSTOR 3051127.
- Phillips, Claude (1895). Antoine Watteau. London: Seeley and co. Limited. pp. 72. OCLC 729123867 – via the Internet Archive.
- Pilon, Edmond (1912). Watteau et son école. Bruxelles: G. van Oest & cie. p. 95, ill. opp. p. 92. OCLC 1158281157 – via the Internet Archive.
- Plax, Julie Anne (2000). Watteau and the Cultural Politics of Eighteenth-Century France. Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-64268-X. OCLC 803847893.
- Posner, Donald (1984). Antoine Watteau. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 57–58, 206, 208, 224–25, 258, 288 n. 16, colorpl. 48. ISBN 0-8014-1571-3. OCLC 10736607 – via the Internet Archive.
- Raymond, Florence, ed. (2013). Antoine Watteau (1684-1721): la leçon de musique (exhibition catalogue) (in French). Paris: Skira Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-0812-9583-4. OCLC 934385505.
- Réau, Louis (1928). "Catalogue de l'art français dans les musées russes". Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire de l'art français: 167–314 – via Gallica. Cat. no. 414.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Réau, Louis (1928–1930). "Watteau". In Dimier, Louis (ed.). Les peintres français du XVIII-e siècle: Histoire des vies et catalogue des œuvres (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: G. Van Oest. p. 39, cat. no. 107. OCLC 564527521.
- Schneider, Pierre (1967). The World of Watteau. New York: Time-Life Books. pp. 104–105. OCLC 680174683 – via the Internet Archive.
- Somof, A. [in Russian] (1903). Ermitage imperial. Catalogue de la Galerie des tableaux. Troisième partie: école anglaise et ècole française. St. Petersburg: La Companie d'Imprimerie artistique. pp. 107–108, cat. no. 1503 – via the Internet Archive.
- Sterling, Charles (1958) [first published in 1957]. Great French Painting in the Hermitage. Translated from French by Christopher Ligota. New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 231 n. 12. OCLC 598217.
- Sund, Judy (September 2016). "Why So Sad? Watteau's Pierrots". The Art Bulletin. 98 (3): 321–347. doi:10.1080/00043079.2016.1143752. JSTOR 43947931. S2CID 193504216.
- Temperini, Renaud (2002). Watteau. Maîtres de l'art (in French). Paris: Gallimard. p. 119, 146, cat. no. 102. ISBN 9782070116867. OCLC 300225840.
- Tillerot, Isabelle (2011). "Engraving Watteau in the Eighteenth Century: Order and Display in the Recueil Jullienne". Getty Research Journal. 3 (3): 33–52. doi:10.1086/grj.3.23005386. eISSN 2329-1249. ISSN 1944-8740. JSTOR 23005386. S2CID 192107598.
- Waagen, G. F. (1870). Die Gemäldesammlung in der Kaiserlichen Eremitage zu St. Petersburg: nebst Bemerkungen über andere dortige Kunstsammlungen (in German) (2nd ed.). St. Petersburg: H. Schmitzdorff. pp. 304–305, cat. no. 1503 – via the Internet Archive.
- Wehle, Harry B. (January 1935). "Le Mezzetin by Antoine Watteau". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 30 (1): 12–18. doi:10.2307/3255436. JSTOR 3255436.
- Weiner, P. P. von [in Russian], ed. (1923). Meisterwerke der Gemäldesammlung in der Eremitage zu Petrograd (in German). München: F. Hanfstaengl. p. 284. OCLC 741513217 – via the Internet Archive.
- Wile, Aaron (September 2014). "Watteau, Reverie, and Selfhood". The Art Bulletin. 96 (3): 319–337. doi:10.1080/00043079.2014.889526. JSTOR 43188883. S2CID 191470371.
- Zimmermann, E. Heinrich [in German] (1912). Watteau: des Meisters Werke in 182 Abbildungen. Klassiker der Kunst (in German). Vol. 21. Stuttgart, Leipzig: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp. 41, 187. OCLC 561124140.
External links
[edit]- Mezzetin at the Web Gallery of Art