Self-Portraiture

The Northern Renaissance has been viewed as an extension of the artistic and cultural bloom in Italy, with the travels taken by Northern artists such as Albrecht Durer to support that claim. However, this assumption of inherently tying the success of the North to that of Southern Italy’s overlooks the creative transformations of image-making by individual artists in areas such as Germany and the breaking away from traditional ideas of subject matter, medium, and stylistic visual representation both in Italy and in different Northern societies as well. By looking at the rise of the drawing as its own autonomous work of art through the work of Albrecht Durer, the development of the landscape genre in the work of Albrecht Altdorfer, and the emergence of monochrome wood sculpture under Tilman Riemenschneider, one can view how these achievements both characterize the Northern Renaissance and mark a historical rupture from previous artistic traditions.

Chap. 1. The subject of this study is the biblical portrait historié, a portrait type in which a person is depicted as a figure from the bible, as it flourished in the Netherlands of the 16th and 17th centuries. In art history, the term portrait historié is used for a subset of both history painting and portraiture in which an individual is portrayed in the guise of a historical, religious, mythological or legendary figure. The description “portrait in the guise of a biblical figure” can cover a wide variety of works of art. A person may be portrayed as protagonist of a biblical story (as David with the head of Goliath) or as biblical figure in a non-biblical narrative scene (as Luke the Evangelist painting the Virgin). The individual(s) depicted could have a main role, actively or passively engaging in the biblical act or hallowed proceding, or appear as an anonymous, secondary but relevant figure in the margins of a multifigured painting. The specific role of the sitter can be identified by analysing the iconography (the sitter’s attributes and/or the narrative context). The term portrait historié is an ambiguous one since it can be used both for a work of art itself, whether it be a proper history piece or an autonomous portrait, and for a portrait figure that is inserted in a narrative scene. The latter portraits are also known as cryptoportraits (i.e. hidden portraits), although these portraits are in no way intended to remain hidden. As an alternative, the description “integrated portraits historiés” is introduced here for those non-autonomous portraits.

1. Tussen portret en historiestuk 13
1.1. Inleiding: afbakening en methodologie van het onderzoek 13
1.2. Kunsthistorisch begrippenapparaat en stand van onderzoek 20
1.3. Werkdefinitie en terminologische afbakening 27
1.4. Formele onderverdeling van het autonome portrait historié 30
1.5. Geïntegreerd portrait historié en assistentieportret 34
1.6. Formele onderverdeling van het geïntegreerde portrait historié 37
1.7. Genrematige grensgevallen: De Verloren Zoon en eigentijdse Bathseba’s 40

This essay takes the work of Samuel Fosso as
the starting point of my reflections—not in
an attempt to reveal the genuine features of
African self-portraiture but to examine a work
that is exclusively self-photographic with regard
to subject theory and the logics of representation
that are at work in a self-photographic situation.

Inwieweit die Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird der Versuch unternommen, in der typologischen Ähnlichkeit beider Porträtgattungen einen Ansatzpunkt zu finden. Darüber hinaus weisen die Beispiele aus der Porträtpraxis darauf hin, dass dem profanen Bildnis zum einen eine Behandlung zukommen konnte, die den Kultbildern analog war, und zum anderen mit dem Begegnungsproblem von Prototyp und Porträt Anhaltspunkte vorliegen, die für eine Präsenzerfahrung bei den Betrachtern sprechen. Die Bedeutung der 'virtus' des Heiligenporträts scheint für das profane Porträt nicht ausgeschlossen, nur ihre Qualität muss vorerst anders eingestuft werden, denn als mirakulös dürften sie nicht gegolten haben. Hierfür jedenfalls liegen keine konkreten Quellen vor, wenngleich sich der Verdacht aufdrängt, dass für die offensichtlich kultische Verehrung der beschriebenen Papstporträts (Julius II., Gregor XV.) eine gewisse Erwartungshaltung der Zeitgenossen an das Bildnis vorauszusetzen ist. In beiden Fällen ist von einem postumen Bildniskult die Rede, der eine Sakralisierung des jeweiligen Porträts möglich erscheinen lässt. Die Übertragungskausalität der 'virtus' vom Prototyp auf sein Porträt, wie sie für das Heiligenporträt belegt ist, ist für das profane Porträt offensichtlich dann nachweisbar, wenn der Dargestellte noch lebt und seinem eigenen Bildnis während des Zeremoniells nicht begegnen darf. Das Begegnungsproblem unter der Voraussetzung der Präsenzerfahrung, wie sie bei den Herrscher-Funeralien und den frühneuzeitlichen Reitermonumenten zu registrieren war, weist auf ein Forschungsdesiderat hin, das vermutlich ohne den zeitgenössischen virtus-Begriff nicht auskommen wird. Der Mehrwert des Porträts und seine Aura als samenartiges Kraftpotential (ratio seminalis) bezeichnet den theoretischen Rahmen, innerhalb dessen der Porträtbegriff weiter zu verhandeln ist.

This article explores the close conceptual and often practical relationship between art and love and its relevance for seventeenth-century Dutch artists. Focusing on pictures signalling that the subject is an artist, it considers the depiction of the artist as husband and as family man for whom love is an inspiration, as conjugal love is accompanied by the love of art. Special attention is paid to paintings in which the productive, pro-creative power of love is portrayed.

Warum zeigt Dürer im Münchner Selbstporträt mit seiner Hand auf den Marderpelz? Auf der Suche nach einer Antwort auf diese Frage geht die vorliegende Untersuchung der Bedeutung der Kleidung in Dürers Selbstdarstellung nach. Der Blick auf weitere Bildzeugnisse der Epoche sowie zeitgenössische Schriftquellen wie Kleidervorschriften und Luxusgesetze eröffnet eine neue Sichtweise auf das berühmte Gemälde. Die Analyse des Bildes unter Heranziehung der Kleiderforschung führt nicht nur zu einer neuen Datierung des Selbstporträts, sondern auch zu einer innovativen Deutung im Kontext rechtshistorischer Zusammenhänge. Ein methodischer Ausblick auf eine Kunstgeschichte, welche die Kulturgeschichte der Kleidung als visuelles System der Zeichen und Symbole einbezieht, rundet den Band ab.

Culture of the Selfie is an in-depth art-historical overview of self-portraiture, using a set of theories from visual studies, narratology, media studies, psychotherapy, and political principles. Collecting information from various fields, juxtaposing them on the historical time-line of artworks, the book focuses on space in self-portraits, shared between the person self-portraying and the viewer. What is the missing information of the transparent relationship to the self and what kind of world appears behind each selfie? As the 'world behind one's back' is gradually taking larger place in the visual field, the book dwells on a capacity of selfies to master reality, the inter-mediate way and, in a measure, oneself.

WONDER WOMEN: SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA, LAVINIA FONTANA AND ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE SELF-PORTRAIT PAINTING BY FEMALE ARTISTS

by Rosa Lena Reed Robinson

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts in Art History at
Studio Art Centers International
Florence, Italy

2017


This  thesis is focused on the self-portrait painting practice by three female artists from the Renaissance and the Baroque periods: Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Chapter I introduces the self-portrait as it developed specific to the Renaissance and in relation to a Greco-Roman classical ideal. The chapter focuses on Renaissance concepts of art and the very role of the artist. Chapter II studies the numerous self-portraits of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first great Renaissance female artist to have an international career. The artist’s self-portraits both became a foundation for those of later female artists and self-consciously expressed the new elite status achieved by this Lombard artist of noble lineage who worked as court portraitist for the Spanish monarchy. Chapter III examines the self-portraits and innovative identity self-portraiture of Lavinia Fontana of Bologna. It is demonstrated how her two early self-portraits built on the precedent established by Sofonisba, and yet, are of somewhat greater iconographic complexity. While in her maturity the artist developed self-portraiture into the identity self-portrait through the subject of Judith and Holofernes. Within her treatments of the theme in some examples she put herself into the figure of Judith and in others into Judith’s maid Abra. Lavinia Fontana’s final masterpiece, the improbable painting Minerva Dressing done at the end of her extensive career was likewise arguably an identity self-portrait. Minerva Dressing constitutes the first female fully nude figure painted by a female artist. Chapter IV focuses on Artemisia Gentileschi. This thesis designates the artist’s Pommersfelden Susanna and the Elders as both Artemisia’s first exact self-portrait and the first female full-length nude self-portrait painted by a female artist. The work is also an identity self-portrait. This chapter continues with a discussion of both versions of Artemisia’s infamous Judith and Holofernes (Capodimonte/Uffizi). Both works are arguably exact self-portrait paintings and identity self-portraits. Artemisia’s Allegory of Painting in London, often referred to as a self-portrait in scholarship, is suggested a perhaps better understood as an ideal identity self-portrait rather than a literal self-representation. The Allegory of Painting is considered together with other attributed self-portraits and portraits of the artist. A major theme in Chapter IV is the transition from literal self-representation to allegorical and ideal portrayal of the self. This thesis suggests that, as the artist’s career advanced, Artemisia Gentileschi did continue to paint both the exact and the ideal self-portrait. Finally, in the Conclusion, the legacy of the self-portraits of the Wonder Women, to adopt a phrase from Giorgio Vasari, is considered in reference to future female artists such as Elisabetta Sirani, Angelica Kauffmann, Elisabeth Vigée Le-Brun and Paula Modersohn-Becker.

The Art of Selfies & Self-Portraits: A How-To Adventure in Photography: 

Selfies are popular today, yet they are part of a centuries-old tradition in art -- the self-portrait. Photographer Rick Doble was one of the first artists to explore the new possibility of selfies and self-portraiture with a digital camera, including GIF animations. In this eBook he shows how his work developed and offers tips for creating unusual selfies. This interactive PowerPoint presentation offers a wide range of selfie photographs to inspire artists who want to go further than the standard smiling selfie. Also included are galleries of contemporary selfies plus self-portraits in history by men and women along with self-portraits by famous artists such as Durer, Rembrandt and van Gogh.

Surprisingly, perhaps, it turns out that the face is not only a finite object of art but also an infinite art object, yielding three inimitable standards of facial beauty, but what these really entail remains essentially unexplored. Surprising new research indicates a fundamental restriction on achievable aesthetic meaning within portraiture.

Readers interested in the latest findings on the face are advised that the present paper is part of a series of writings on this page attempting a total integration of the Visage of Man through theoretical comprehension, scientific investigation, and sensual appreciation of its place in actual life and within artistic conventions as ordinarily practiced.

Three other papers on this page should be read for an integrated and particularized approach to the context, the form (or plan), the neurophysiological underpinnings, and the exhibition of the Trifurcated Face of Man (namely, 'Prospectus of the Society for Faces,' 'The Soul of Life and the Spirit of War,' and 'Desiderata for Primary Exhibition of the Face').

A planned fifth paper ('The Human Face in Life and Death') in due course will, it is hoped, summarize, clarify, and strengthen the contributions to the theory of the face by the present author and form the basis for substantial new research on the idealist theory of the Visage of Man in the 21st century. The depth of the human face remains essentially unknown within idealism and is totally masked by the delusions of materialism.

Integral study of individual facial conformation at first maturity with the face in death (the Totenmask) in volunteers across the globe soon will be proposed, more or less as first envisioned in the 'Prospectus of the Society for Faces,' but with concrete reference to true (idealist) anthropology and its newfound insight into the profound psychophysical separation constituting Trifurcated Man.

Place of the conference: Museum für Fotografie, Jebensstr. 2, 10623 Berlin, 4. - 5. Oktober 2018

Program of the conference which accompanies the exhibition "Artist Complex. Photographic Portraits from Baselitz to Warhol. Platen Collection" (Künstler Komplex. Fotografische Porträts von Baselitz bis Warhol. Sammlung Platen).

Title of my presentation: Impossible Self-Portrait. Artist’s Body as a
Sphere of Photographic Inquiry (Witkacy - Duchamp - Cahun)

This book was also published, by the same publisher, in French and Dutch.  It was reprinted on the occasion of the exhibition of Jan Fabre’s bronzes at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels (October 12, 2012 - September 15, 2013). It includes texts by Anna Kreutzträger, Herman Parret, Stefan Hertmans, Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, Bart Verschaffel, Pascal Gielen, Marie-Laure Bernadac, Bernard Marcadé, Vincent Huguet, Paul Ardenne, Paul Demets, Katerina Koskina, Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Germano Celant, Alberto Fiz, Thierry Raspail, Gianni Mercurio, and Claire Van Damme.

Tom R. Chambers takes a look at self-portraiture (the “selfie”) as an incorporation of various graphics software programs to affirm e-technology's overriding presence in today's society. And in a mixed-media sense, he contrasts photographic image(s) with the text and design of the software to make the point that the product (image[s]) and the tool (software) are one and the same - coexistent as a part of the creative process.

Tom R. Chambers utilizes the self-portrait to project his life experiences. His portrait remains constant with the experience (situation) indicated as a change or flux in the image. The accompanying text details his experience with the inclusion of links to the Internet for additional information. TOM SERIES is not only an artwork about Chambers' life - biography (visual/textual) - but also a reference tool, a study of history through his existence.

CASTELLANO

El objetivo fundamental en esta tesis ha sido demostrar la posible existencia de un retrato específico durante el Simbolismo, especialmente a través del autorretrato y de la imagen del artista como mejores manifestaciones dentro de este género. Para ello, hemos querido explicar sus rasgos más característicos, unos rasgos que los diferenciaran de otros (auto) retratos realizados anteriormente y que permitieron a su vez una renovación en este tema.
El posible origen de esta reformulación fue una reflexión sobre cómo siempre se había entendido el retrato como reflejo de una realidad exterior por parte de un movimiento que, a priori, no estaba interesado en ella sino en la introspección. De la conjunción entre la subjetividad del Simbolismo y su interés por todo lo inefable (el alma, el mundo de los sueños, el más allá), y los intereses propios de la época respecto al individuo desde el mundo de la mente, surgió un retrato nuevo que apostaba no tanto por el físico de su modelo como por su vida interior, un aspecto que, en general, había sido descuidado.
Para poder plasmar mejor ese mundo interior, se procedió a una renovación iconográfica e incluso estilística, que hemos querido estudiar y dar a conocer. De esta manera, la iconografía de la cabeza cortada, los ojos cerrados y la pose de perfil, por ejemplo, atípicos elementos en la historia de este género por atentar contra los principios fundamentales de representatividad y verosimilitud, fueron desarrollados por estos artistas. Así mismo, los fondos de estas efigies recibieron un nuevo tratamiento.
Algunos de los temas fundamentales mediante los cuales pudieron estudiar al individuo moderno desde la subjetividad fueron a su vez intereses propios del Simbolismo: se trata de la fragmentación del yo (abordado en la tesis bajo el tema del doble); la espiritualidad (ante la naciente secularización y frente al paralelo culto al yo y sobre todo del artista, se procedió a la eclosión de un autorretrato teomorfo, donde los creadores pasaban a ser los sustitutos de los santos o Cristo); el paso del tiempo (cuya difícil plasmación visual fue explorada desde el yo a través de diversos autorretratos realizados a lo largo de la vida, o si no mediante ciclos a través de la memoria); y finalmente, de la muerte (que recuperando la tradición, fue asumida y adaptada a la personalidad de cada uno de sus autores).
Una posición aparte lo ocupa la importancia de la naciente fotografía en la configuración de una nueva percepción en los modos de ver, especialmente en torno a uno mismo y su corporalidad, pero también sobre otros temas como el tiempo, igualmente abordados en esta tesis.

ENGLISH

The aim of this thesis has been to demonstrate the existence of a specific portrait during Symbolism, above all through the self-portrait and image of the artist as best manifestations in this genre. In order to do, we have exposed their main features, different from other (self) portraits made before and which enabled a renewal turn on this issue.
The origin of these changes was probably due to a reflection on how the portrait had always been understood as a reflection of an external reality by a movement which, a priori, was not interested in it but introspection. The conjunction between the subjectivity of Symbolism, its interest in the soul or the world of dreams, and the interests of that period on the inner self, allowed a new portrait to emerge,  which focused not so much on physical but in the inner life, an aspect that, in general, had been neglected.
In order to better reflect this inner world, there was an iconographic and even stylistic renewal. Thus, the motifs of the severed head, eyes closed and profile, for example, atypical in this genre because they were against the main principles of verisimilitude, were developed by the artists.
Some of the key issues by which this subjectivity was portrayed in the Symbolism were: the fragmentation of the self (under the topic of the doppelgänger); spirituality (due to the rising secularism and the parallel cult of the self -and especially to the artist-, a new theomorphic self-portrait emerged, where the creators became the new saints or even Christ); overtime (explored from the self through serial self-portraits painted throughout lifetime; or if not, cycles through memory); and finally, death (between tradition and the personality of every artist).
The rising importance of photography in shaping a new perception in the ways of seeing, also deserves a special mention in this thesis.