Bernardino Licinio: Portraiture, Kinship and Community in Renaissance Venice
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Bernardino Licinio: Portraiture, Kinship and Community in Renaissance Venice by Karine Tsoumis A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto © Copyright by Karine Tsoumis 2013 Bernardino Licinio: Portraiture, Kinship and Community in Renaissance Venice Karine Tsoumis Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto 2013 Abstract Bernardino Licinio was a painter of Bergamasque origin active in Venice from c. 1510 to c. 1550. Licinio was a prolific painter of portraits, concert scenes and religious images for the home and headed a prosperous family workshop. Yet the artist is largely denied importance within the current art historical narrative, being conceived as “minor,” “provincial” or “second- rate.” My dissertation questions the “constructedness” of historical identities and presents the first nuanced understanding of Licinio’s place within Venetian culture. I argue that his status as “minor” is a modern construct rather than a reflection of his contemporaries’ perception. My dissertation inscribes itself within endeavours to “de-centre” the Renaissance conceptually, and is especially indebted to recent studies of material culture that challenge art historical hierarchies and aesthetic biases. The dissertation provides a multilayered reading of Bernardino Licinio’s artistic identity through frameworks that stem from what I consider unique aspects of his practice, while others arise from problems posed by his historiographical reception. The artist’s position between Venice and Bergamo provides the line of enquiry for chapter one, where I engage with the Bergamasque ii community conceived, on the one hand, as a form of historiographical framing, and on the other, as a social reality. In chapter two, music as a cultural phenomenon provides a frame for exploring Licinio’s intellectual world. I contend that his engagement with musical themes suggests an involvement with the communities of interest fostered by music as a social act. Chapter three addresses Licinio’s hitherto unrecognised contribution to shaping a tradition of female portraiture. The chapter thus challenges the accepted conceit of women’s “artistic invisibility” in Venetian art, while simultaneously highlighting Licinio’s role in forming the genre of family portraiture. Chapter four presents a case study of two images where the artist talks about himself and his family: the Portrait of Arrigo and Agnese Licinio with their Children and the Self-Portrait with Workshop. Through these portraits, I explore the convergence of familial and professional identities, the conceptual ties between the home and the family, and the structures of kinship that provided the foundation for the Renaissance workshop. iii Acknowledgments This thesis could not have been completed without the assistance of many wonderful individuals and generous institutions. I would like to thank my advisor Philip Sohm for his continued encouragements, thoughtful advice and brilliant insights, as well as for teaching me to trust my instincts. I am also extremely grateful to members of my dissertation committee, Matt Kavaler and Nicholas Terpstra, and to my readers Giancarla Periti and Blake de Maria, for their careful reading of my dissertation and thought-providing questions and comments. I would like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada and the Department of Art at the University of Toronto for the financial assistance provided throughout my doctoral degree. My research abroad was generously funded by a Grant for Independent Research on Venetian History and Culture from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, a Joseph Frieberg Grant for Research at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, and by the School of Graduate Studies. It has been an immense pleasure to be part of a stimulating community of scholars at the University of Toronto. I wish to thank many colleagues for their help and interest in my work, including Angela Glover, Alexandra Hoare, Guita Lamsechi, Carolina Mangone and Betsy Moss. Many friends in Montreal and Toronto have offered both moral and emortional support. I especially wish to thank Julie Girard and Noura Karazivan for many years of unfailing friendship. My deepest gratitude goes to my family. My mother Julienne Tsoumis and my sister Mélina Tsoumis have been my most devoted supporters, always showing faith in me. My husband Emanuel Petrache has been by my side every step of the way. I thank him for his love, patience and for the strength he has given me. This dissertation is dedicated to him. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii List of Maps ................................................................................................................................. xxi INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 ‘[I]l mio Bernardin Licino’ ............................................................................................................. 1 Bernardino Licinio in Context ......................................................................................................... 4 Venice and Bergamo ................................................................................................................................ 4 The Family Workshop .............................................................................................................................. 6 Critical Reception ............................................................................................................................ 9 Vasari to Boschini .................................................................................................................................... 9 Modern Constructs ................................................................................................................................. 13 The Lombard Connection and the Giorgionesque Family ..................................................................... 15 “De-centering” the Renaissance .................................................................................................... 19 Preview of Chapters ...................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 1 ARTISTIC GEOGRAPHY, IMMIGRATION AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY VENICE .................................................................... 29 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 29 On the Origins of the “Lombard Soul”: Naturalism in a Historiographical Perspective .............. 31 ‘The essence of all expatriates’: The Bergamasque Immigrant Between Satire and Reality ....... 44 Urban Geography, Community Dynamics and the Bergamasque Painters .................................. 52 Neighbourhoods and Scuole ................................................................................................................... 53 Social Networks ...................................................................................................................................... 60 Cultural Contacts: The Export of Altarpieces to the Bergamasque Valleys ................................. 64 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 70 v CHAPTER 2 MUSIC, PAINTING AND LICINIO’S PUBLIC ................................................... 72 Introduction: Musical Cultures ...................................................................................................... 72 The Public for Music ..................................................................................................................... 75 The Sight of Sound ........................................................................................................................ 87 Satire and Morality ........................................................................................................................ 96 The Old Man and the Hurdy-Gurdy ....................................................................................................... 96 Tools of Seduction: Music and the Courtesan ...................................................................................... 103 Theatrical Cultures ............................................................................................................................... 110 A Style of Pictorial Legibility: Naturalism, Painted Texts and the Close-Up ............................ 114 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 125 CHAPTER 3 REPRESENTING WOMEN ................................................................................. 127 Introduction: “A rather unpleasant portrait by Bernardino Licinio” ........................................... 127 The Assertive