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Lorenzo Lotto's Portraits of Women

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Lorenzo Lotto's Portraits of Women © COPYRIGHT by Amanda Chadbourne 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LORENZO LOTTO’S PORTRAITS OF WOMEN: A CASE STUDY OF INNOVATIONS IN CINQUECENTO FEMALE PORTRAITURE BY Amanda Chadbourne ABSTRACT This thesis argues that the Cinquecento Venetian artist Lorenzo Lotto, inspired by the innovations in female portraiture of Leonardo da Vinci and Giorgione, sought to imbue single- sitter portraits of women with a higher level of individualism and personality, resulting in a sense of agency and autonomy not typical of other portraits of women in the period. Through a case study of Lotto’s Portrait of a Lady as Lucretia, with additional analysis of his Lucina Brembati and Laura da Pola portraits, I explore the ambiguity tied to gender and sexuality often present after the rise of new categories of female portraits, especially the new genre depicting mistresses and courtesans in sixteenth century Italy. Further, I propose an alternative identity for the sitter in the Lucretia portrait than the conventional one, which identifies her as a noblewoman named Lucrezia Pesaro. I argue rather that she is a cortigiana onesta, or honest courtesan, who adopted the pseudonym Lucrezia (the vernacular version of Lucretia) in order to convey humanistic learning and ironic wit concerning the theme of chastity in relation to her profession. Courtesans occupied an ambiguous place in Renaissance society; this could at times threaten to upset conventional gender roles in society. Part of my argument is that the artistic traditions of Venice and Northern Italy, along with the unique culture of courtesans in Venice, spurred Lotto’s ingenuity in crafting an ambivalent and multi-dimensional portrait that showcased his sitter’s identity in a novel way. I will also argue that this ambiguity was not limited to portraits of ii courtesans, and with the additional interpretive layers of various paragone, extended to other portraits of women. This thesis asserts that Lotto should be considered among the most innovative artists of the sixteenth century in the genre of female portraiture. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people I would like to acknowledge who have helped me throughout this degree. First and foremost I want to thank my mom, dad, and sister, who were incredibly supportive and encouraging when I decided to get a second Master’s degree. They were always available with a cup of tea and to listen to my ideas, and did not mind me basically ignoring everyone this past Christmas break as I studied for comprehensive exams and worked on PhD applications. (I also want to thank my dogs, Mr. Darcy and Gus, for trying to “help” me study and write – a lot of puppy eyes and games of fetch were involved). I want to thank my advisor Dr. Butler, for encouraging me to pursue a class paper on Lotto’s Lucretia and turn it in to this thesis, and for helping me develop the skills to be a professional scholar, (and for being very patient with me as I figured out exactly what shape my thesis would take). Dr. Allen, who is the reason I am going on to get my PhD at the University of Warwick, has been an amazing mentor, both with my academic work and when I worked as her TA. I am grateful for all of her help with my application to the University of Warwick, and for suggesting it in the first place. Last (but definitely not least) I want to thank my cohort. It always felt like we were all in this together, and even though there was a lot of hard work, it was fun doing it with all of you. Thank you for all the cookies and doughnuts, for the coffee runs, and for the encouragement. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv List of Illustrations ......................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Conventions of Female Portraiture in the Renaissance and the Innovations of Lorenzo Lotto…………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter Two: Vice or Virtue?: Lorenzo Lotto’s Portrait of a Lady as Lucretia ...............16 Chapter Three: Paragone and Lotto’s Female Portraits..……………...………………………………………………………………….34 Illustrations……………………………………………………………………………………....46 Bibliography………………………………………..……………………………………………48 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Fra Filippo Lippi, Portrait of a Woman at a Casement, 1440, tempera on wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2. Alesso Baldovinetti, Portrait of a Lady, 1465, tempera and oil on wood, National Gallery, London 3. Antonio Pollaiuolo, Portrait of a Lady, 1460-1465, tempera and oil on wood, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan 4. Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’Benci, 1474/1478, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC 5. Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-1506 (finished 1517?), oil on wood, Louvre, Paris 6. Leonardo da Vinci, The Lady with an Ermine (Cecilia Gallerani), 1489, oil on wood, Czartoryski Museum, Kraków, Poland 7. Titian, Flora, 1515, oil on canvas, Uffizi Gallery, Florence 8. Palma il Vecchio, Young Woman as Flora (A Blonde Woman), 1520, oil on wood, National Gallery, London 9. Giorgione, Portrait of a Woman (Laura), 1506, oil on canvas (transferred from panel), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 10. Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of a Woman as Lucretia, 1533, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London 11. Marcantonio Raimondi, The Death of Lucretia (After Raphael), 1511-1512, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 12. Parmigianino, Death of Lucretia, 1540, Royal Collection Trust, London 13. Francesco Vecellio, Lucretia, 1530, oil on canvas, Royal Trust Collection, London 14. Titian, Tarquin and Lucretia, 1510, oil on canvas, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 15. Titian, La Bella, 1536, oil on canvas, Palazzo Pitti, Florence 16. Parmigianino, Portrait of a Man, 1523, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London 17. Portrait of a Man (possibly Girolamo Rosati), 1533-34, oil on canvas, Cleveland Museum of Art vi 18. (Figure a and b) Unattributed. A Courtesan Exposed/Unexposed, 16th century, Print Collection, New York Public Library 19. Parmigianino, Antea, ca. 1524-1527, oil on canvas, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples 20. Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538, oil on canvas, Uffizi Gallery, Florence 21. Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of Lucina Brembati, 1518-23, oil on canvas, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo 22. Domenico Ghirlandaio, Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, 1488, tempera on wood, Museo Thyssen-Bornemiszo, Madrid 23. Palma il Vecchio, Portrait of a Young Woman (La Bella), 1518-1520, oil on canvas, Museo Thyssen-Bornemiszo, Madrid 24. Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of Laura da Pola, 1543-1544, oil on canvas, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan 25. Giorgione, Sleeping Venus, 1510, oil on canvas, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden vii CHAPTER ONE CONVENTIONS OF FEMALE PORTRAITURE IN THE RENAISSANCE AND THE INNOVATIONS OF LORENZO LOTTO The nature of portrait painting in the Renaissance was very structured and – for the most part – unchallenged by artists of the time. The tradition of portraiture in Italy derives from ancient Greece and Rome, primarily with portrait busts and coins, as few paintings from that time have survived.1 Throughout the Renaissance there were socially acceptable parameters in which an artist could portray a sitter, and there was an enduring tradition of conventions for female portraiture that supported the patriarchal structure of society. Portraits of women became increasingly conceived of in terms of a competition, or paragone, about female beauty and supremacy in its depiction – by artists or poets. Consequently, the genre became less about the actual appearance and nature of the woman being portrayed, and more about abstract ideas of representation. Scholars such as Patricia Simons and Elizabeth Cropper have analyzed the different conventions, whether poetic or societal, that informed female portraits in society.2 This first chapter considers how Lotto complicated the established conventions in female portraiture, and engaged with the new genre of courtesan/mistress portraits in Northern Italy with distinctive and innovative results.3 1 Patricia Simons, "Women in Frames: The Gaze, the Eye, the Profile in Renaissance Portraiture," History Workshop 25 (1988), 5. 2 I will discuss this later in this chapter. 3 It would be interesting, and I believe worthy of deeper study, to look at how Lotto portrayed women in other genres of painting including religious and historical figures, as well as other portraits of contemporary women. 1 Of the one hundred and fifty surviving works by Lorenzo Lotto, fifty are portraits, only eight of which feature likenesses of women.4 Since the ‘rediscovery’ of Lotto by Bernard Berenson, several scholars have investigated Lotto’s life and works. However, his portraits, especially his portraits of women, have been largely ignored by mainstream scholarship. Relegated to short entries in exhibition catalogues and brief analyses when discussed in relation to his other works, these paintings have not received the considerable attention that many of Lotto’s other works have, with one exception. Lotto’s Portrait of a Lady as Lucretia, perhaps one of his most well-known works, has been discussed at great length. Historically, there has been much debate over the identity of the sitter. Is she a noblewoman? A courtesan or prostitute? Or is she more of an allegorical figure and less of a portrait? More recently, the sitter
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