Loaned courtesy of the Klesch Collection 2022.22 By painting the portrait on stone, the artist made the image a potent symbol of enduring power, even though the stone is not visible. Some scholars have identified the subject as Ippolito de’Medici, a member of the powerful Florentine family who ruled over the city in the 16th century. Sebastiano del Piombo’s approach makes this portrait one that conveys strength and force. This soldier’s elongated neck, echoed in the straight contour of his nose, creates an emphatically diagonal and simplified form. Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Women’s Exchange, M1966.55 2022.21 Taken together, the pose, the hairstyles, and the use of stone as a durable support may all be intended to underscore the commemorative role of this portrait. The pose hearkens back to the 1400s as well. The clothing they wear dates from the 1570s, while their hair adornments are based on styles popular nearly a century earlier. Three of the men, called his minions, were killed in 1578, and Henry grieved them deeply at their bedsides. Many artists chose stone supports for portraiture, but this image of Henry III’s male lovers is unique in its use of a multiple-profile view. School of Fontainebleau, p ossibly Lucas de Heere During these years painters usually covered the entire stone surface with pigment, as seen in most of the examples in this gallery. These same writers documented artists’ use of many types of stone-marble, alabaster, porphyry, and slate-although most surviving examples from this early period were painted on slate. For these reasons, in the 1520s and 1530s Sebastiano worked to perfect a technique that allowed paint to adhere reliably to stone, to create something “eternal,” as contemporary writers described it. Proponents of sculpture emphasized its greater durability, as it could be made of more lasting materials, such as stone.įurthermore, artists were seeking new ways to enrich the meanings of their paintings. A debate was also underway, primarily between Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, as to whether sculpture or painting was the superior art form. Experimentation was one way in which these artists could challenge each other. When Sebastiano came to Rome in 1511, he encountered a competitive atmosphere where artists Raphael and Michelangelo commanded sizable workshops. The person credited with beginning to use stone supports and inspiring others to follow was the Venetian painter Sebastiano del Piombo (1485–1547). Although stone paintings were produced in the ancient Mediterranean region, and periodically in Europe from the 12th through the 15th centuries, the 16th-century practice was more consistent and widespread. This exhibition is devoted to a highly innovative practice of painting on stone surfaces that began in 16th-century Rome. SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO AND THE ORIGINS OF PAINTING ON STONE Jacques Stella, French, 1596–1657 Rest on the Flight into Egypt, c.1629–1630 oil on jasper 10 7/16 x 14 15/16 inches Private collection Audio guide available at /audio or scan the QR code. These paintings, both rich in meaning and striking in appearance, highlight a practice previously overlooked and shed new light on this aspect of European artistic culture. Subsequent galleries feature artists whose approach beautifully integrates the unique markings and dramatic coloration of the stone surface into their finished work. Early examples of paintings on stone include portraits, narratives, and religious scenes where the entire stone support is covered with paint. Many of the works on view showcase the creative ways that painters incorporated stone into their visual vocabulary. This exhibition offers an introduction to the 16th-century European practice of painting on stone surfaces. By the mid-1590s, when more types of stone became available, painters used rocks with interesting coloration and markings, leaving some surface unpainted in order to include these natural elements in their finished designs. Initially, they preferred dark stone, contrasting light tones against black backgrounds for visual and spiritual effects. Influenced by Sebastiano, other artists who worked in or visited Rome also started using stone supports for their small painted artworks.īeginning in the 1570s, first in Venice and then elsewhere, artists routinely left parts of the stone painting surface bare. These words, written on June 8, 1530, are the earliest evidence that the Venetian painter Sebastiano del Piombo (1485–1547) was painting on stone. You must know that our own Sebastianello has discovered a secret of painting on beautiful marble, which allows him to make a picture nothing less than eternal. Paintings on Stone Science and the Sacred 1530–1800 February 20, 2022–Main Exhibition Galleries, East Building
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