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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PORTRAITS IN EXTREMIS: SEVERED HEADS IN RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE PORTRAITURE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Dorothy J. Bokelman, B.F.A, M.A, M.A. The Ohio State University 2002 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dr. Francis Richardson, Advisor Dr. Barbara Haeger Advisor ) Dr. Arline Meyer Department of History of Art Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3048997 Copyright 2002 by Bokelman, Dorothy Jane All rights reserved. UMI__ ® UMI Microform 3048997 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT During the first decade of the sixteenth century Giorgione painted himself as the biblical hero in his David with the Head of Goliath. With that image he introduced the allegorical self-portrait into Venetian Renaissance art and produced the first of twelve images in which Renaissance and early Baroque artists working in Italy portrayed themselves as protagonists in biblical scenes of beheading or its aftermath. In the ensuing 125 years, Pordenone, Titian, Palma Vecchio, Veronese, Lavinia Fontana, Caravaggio, Cristofano Allori, Artemisia Gentileschi, Bernini, and Vouet, all working in Italy, participated in this bizarre self-portrait sub-genre by presenting themselves as either David, Goliath, John the Baptist, Judith, or Holofernes. In this dissertation, cultural context, contemporary artistic theories, and individual circumstances are investigated in order to provide a multi-faceted answer to the question: why would these eleven individual artists, working separately, choose to present themselves in such a peculiar way? Chapter One is a chronological introduction of the twelve decapitation self-portraits, and Chapter Two is an examination of the larger historical context in which these works were produced. During this period, biographers recorded the life histories, attributions to, and professional activities of artists, while patrons increasingly displayed artists' self-portraits in their personal collections. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Painters, responding to this new demand for their likenesses, began to create self-portraits that they deemed worthy of display in prominent collections and among images of their peers. Chapter Three investigates various self-portraiture categories to gain a more thorough understanding of how artists fashioned images of themselves and the messages conveyed through those paintings, in Chapter Four, the six decapitation self-portraits produced by artists in the Veneto during the cinquecento are analyzed, while Chapter Five is devoted to the six images painted in Italian centers outside of Venice during the early Baroque period. For each decapitation self-portrait, the artist's responses to contemporary artistic theories regarding imitation, emulation, and invention will be taken into account as will the relevant personal circumstances and artistic stimuli that may have influenced his/her choice of guise. Additionally, ideas and associations prompted by these iconographically unusual images will be considered. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedicated to Christopher My beloved angel in the guise of a human iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in the decapitation self-portraits stems from a project in one of Dr. Francis L. Richardson's seminars at Ohio State. I am infinitely grateful to him for so generously reading and editing numerous versions of this manuscript and for his continuing interest and support of my research. His guidance, patience, and intellectual criticism throughout the years that 1 have been associated with him have been invaluable to me. I thank Dr. Barbara Haeger for her warm encouragement, keen insight, and numerous suggestions, which have vastly improved the content of this work in particular and my scholarly abilities in general. I am also grateful to Dr. Arline Meyer for her support and assistance in writing this paper. My research and travel in Italy were greatly facilitated by a grant from the History of Art Department, for which I am thankful. I wish to personally thank Dr. Timothy McNiven for his advice prior to my Italian sojourn and for his assistance, translations, and encouragement on numerous occasions. I am indebted to Dawn Cunningham for her critical reading talents, moral support, companionship, and willingness to take frantic phone calls, day or night. I feel truly honored and blessed to have you as a friend. I am also immensely grateful to Sue Hoyt for her friendship, editing skills, and knowledge of rules regarding comma v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. usage. Special thanks are reserved for Becky Metz for help in the later stages of this project and for Art and Libby Christensen who took time from their own Florentine vacation to return my lost dissertation journal. I am, as always, thankful for the love and encouragement of my family, and I extend a special thanks to my parents, Gary and Peggy Burgoyne, for the tickets to Italy (and a dream of a lifetime) and to my mother, who so graciously accompanied me on the trip. I could not have done it without you. Finally, and most importantly, I thank Christopher for his unwavering patience, support, and encouragement. I am, as always, awed and humbled by your love and friendship. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA July 27, 1962 ..................... Born — Monongahela, PA 1984 ............................... B.F.A. Printmaking, Pennsylvania State University 1986 ............................... M.A., Drawing and Painting, Purdue University 1995 ............................... M.A., History of Art, The Ohio State University 1993-Present...................... Graduate Teaching and Administrative Associate, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History of Art Italian Renaissance Art and Architecture Northern and Southern Baroque Art and Architecture Northern Renaissance Art vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract.......................................................... ii Dedication........................................................ iv Acknowledgments................................................... v Vita.............................................................. vii List of Figures................................................... ix Chapters: 1. Introduction................................................. 1 2. The Cult of Celebrity: A Thriving Market for Works by and about visual Artists.............................................. 31 3. Renaissance and Early Baroque Artists Crafting Public Images: Flexibility in Autobiography and Self-Portraiture......... 60 4. Decapitation Self-portraits