7 C. Stornajolo, Miniature delle omelie di Giacomo Monaco (cod. Learning and logging professional details is a great way to start building out your donor profile and creating a picture that goes beyond headline demographics. The panel is also the subject of a study by E. Dimitriadou, The Lunette Mosaic in the Southwest Vestibule of Hagia Sophia at Constantinople: A Reconsideration, Ph.D. thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art (2010). Further, the central block has considerable visual mass, as the enthroned Christ and the personifications of Justice and Mercy who whisper the virtues of the emperors in his ears occupy more surface area than either of the two solitary figures beneath. And in this, there is truth. It is as though the celebrants cannot see them, and do not believe what the image itself represents: that the gods are present before them. It speaks not only of the status of the emperor, but is an explanation of that status, telling how it comes to be. Hans Memling; the Madonna looks benevolently at the donor, who is presented by Saint Anthony the Great, and blessed by the Christ-child, Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Raising of Lazarus, with five kneeling donor portraits (and perhaps the donor's dog). Second Preliminary Report. Yet, for all that this scene also represents supernatural beings and humans inhabiting a common zone of existence, it is lacking in just that quality of immediacy and reality of which the Byzantine images are in sole possession. Displaying portraits in a public place was also an expression of social status; donor portraits overlapped with tomb monuments in churches, the other main way of achieving these ends, although donor portraits had the advantage that the donor could see them displayed in his own lifetime. See also H. Khler and C. Mango, Hagia Sophia, trans. Andrea Mantegna's Madonna della Vittoria (c. 1496), with Francesco II Gonzaga. ), The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, AD 8431261 (New York: Abrams, 1997), 20910. It should also be borne in mind, however, that as much as the images fit into these categories, they all have the dual agenda, which means that each also has something of the other categories within it. In family groups the figures are usually divided by gender. 370. Also see K. Clark, Checklist of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the Greek and Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem (Washington: Library of Congress, 1953), 15 and 30, and Spatharakis, Portrait, 5759. What the author is interested in is the bigger picture: the ways in which 'donor portraits' can lead to an understanding of the ways in which the Byzantine world operated, its systems, structures and values. 4 S. Jnsdttir, A Picture of a Donor in an Icelandic Manuscript of the 14th Century, rbk hins slenzka fornleifaflags (1964): 519, at 18. This distinctive power configuration, too, is the key criterion for distinguishing not only between true or quasi donor portraits, but between true contact portraits in general and all other images containing contemporary portraits of lay figures together with holy figures. ), Antioch Mosaics (Istanbul: A Turizm Yaynlar, 2000), 20204. Portraiture in Renaissance and Baroque Europe | Essay | The Figure 1.18: Worshiper, deities, and god, impression of cylinder seal (Old Akkadian Worship Scenes), Old Akkadian, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, c. 23502200 BC. King, 129. 456v, thirteenth century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. in (Washington: Dumbarton Oaks, 1966); H. Ahrweiler, Lidologie politique de lempire byzantin (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1975); M. McCormick, Eternal Victory: Triumphal Rulership in Late Antiquity, Byzantium and the Medieval West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990); and, for a view contesting the ideas of many historians of earlier generations, A. Kaldellis, The Byzantine Republic: People and Power in New Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015). [7], At least in Northern Italy, as well as the grand altarpieces and frescos by leading masters that attract most art-historical attention, there was a more numerous group of small frescoes with a single saint and donor on side-walls, that were liable to be re-painted as soon as the number of candles lit before them fell off, or a wealthy donor needed the space for a large fresco-cycle, as portrayed in a 15th-century tale from Italy:[8]. The very small girl was perhaps an infant death or a later addition to the family and the painting. 15 L. Brubaker, Gifts and Prayers: The Visualization of Gift-Giving in Byzantium and the Mosaics at Hagia Sophia, in W. Davis and P. Fouracre (eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. With every campaign, every new event, you should be thinking data capture. Jnsdttir, in a discussion dealing with medieval Icelandic manuscripts, yet clearly applicable to our field as well, states that such scenes are not likely to be pictures of donors, because [they] do not show what they are giving, or whether they are giving anything at all.Footnote 4 Only representations of an actual donation are donor portraits, she maintains. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. . Here too, the thought of ownership comes more to mind than donation. Figure 1.27: Basil before the Virgin, Lectionary, Greek Patriarchate, Jerusalem, Megale Panhagia 1, fol. Art Object Page - National Gallery of Art Mention has already been made of a distinction that will play a large role in this study, between those that show the lay figures carrying either a church building or a manuscript and those that do not. Instead, the scenes adopt some of the same vocabulary that makes the coronations successful: the emperor is upright, frontal, dignified, authoritative, and, not least, bathing in the glow of Christs blessing. Pope Honorius I (died 638), mosaic in Sant'Agnese fuori le Mura in Rome, carrying a model of the church he built. Networks and connections:In a world where youre just six degrees from your next big opportunity, you need to be flagging those networks and connections so that you can see (and start to join) the dots. (Giessen: W. Schmitz, 1963), vol. Making assumptions, using stereotypes and sweeping generalisations are no substitute for actual knowledge. Sorabella, Jean. At the heart of the image is the same urgent desire for contact with the holy figure that Theodore makes manifest. It is therefore the subject of the next chapter. gr. Look at your headline numbers. An indication of some of the issues involved in defining the type is given not only by the images themselves, but by the names by which they are known. What, exactly, is the iconographic type known as the donor portrait? The scenes, to a remarkable degree, retain their flexibility. Vatic. Embedded Portraits: Appending a New Myth to an Old Myth 2), The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, AD 8431261, The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia at Istanbul: Third Preliminary Report, Work Done in 19351938: The Imperial Portraits of the South Gallery, The Emperor at St Sophia: Viewer and Viewed, Byzance et les images: cycle de confrences organis au muse du Louvre par le Service culturel du 5 octobre au 7 dcembre 1992, The Display of Accumulated Wealth in Luxury Icons: Gift-Giving from the Byzantine Aristocracy to God in the Twelfth Century, : , , The Presentation Copies of the Panoplia Dogmatica (Moscow, Gos. If youre swimming in numbers, it can be hard to make sense of them, so think carefully about the fields you need, and keep your analysis focused. Consider the following range of scenes. Should we, then, apply only the term ktetor, and not donor, to these latter images? What had first appeared to us as a donor portrait, then, is rather an image of an emperor asserting to his lord the orthodoxy of his views. If a regular person was featured in a painting, they were depicted as partaking in a recognizable religious scene such as the birth or death of Christ. The Sources: An Annotated Survey (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001), 66. (c. 12671337) Italian painter, See all related overviews in Oxford Reference Like the Medici, they employed this kind of sacred patronage to expiate themselves against charges of . More immediate forerunners of our portraits are also be found in the scenes of sacrificial offerings in ancient Greece and Rome. Two examples from this period are Bishop Ecclesius being introduced to Christ by an angel in the apse of the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna (consecrated 548, Fig. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. An apt example is the dual coronation of John II Komnenos and his son Alexios in a Gospel book of the first half of the twelfth century. Hans Memling was one of the most prominent and productive Netherlandish artists of the later fifteenth century. Ktetor portraits, in a sense, presume that relationship. In this scene Constantine has in his hands a model of the walled city of Constantinople, in reference to his construction of the city walls, while Justinian has a model of the Church of Hagia Sophia, in reference to his reconstruction of the building. Jan van Eyck's Rolin Madonna is a small painting where the donor Nicolas Rolin shares the painting space equally with the Madonna and Child, but Rolin had given great sums to his parish church, where it was hung, which is represented by the church above his praying hands in the townscape behind him. Oliver looks entirely regal, proud, and majestic every inch the king. It is contact portraits that are the subject of this book. Endowed funds provide income every year in perpetuity to carry out the designated purpose of the fund. Donor Portraits in Byzantine Art: The Vicissitudes of Contact between [27], Donor portraits in works for churches, and over-prominent heraldry, were disapproved of by clerical interpreters of the vague decrees on art of the Council of Trent, such as Saint Charles Borromeo,[28] but survived well into the Baroque period, and developed a secular equivalent in history painting, although here it was often the principal figures who were given the features of the commissioner. In this respect, the images are concerned more with sponsorship of the church in an official capacity than with issues of personal salvation that are found in traditional donor portraits.Footnote 10 Nonetheless, the problematic of power and contact is dealt with in a distinctive way. Weve all heard of Dorothy Donor - the traditional, archetypal charity supporter (just in case you havent, shes female, aged 45 to 60 and loves to give, preferably with cash). ), Byzance et les images: cycle de confrences organis au muse du Louvre par le Service culturel du 5 octobre au 7 dcembre 1992 (Paris: La Documentation franaise, 1994), 22351, at 24043. My concern is . Donor portrait - Wikipedia Before the 15th century a physical likeness may not have often been attempted, or achieved; the individuals depicted may in any case often not have been available to the artist, or even alive. The Antioch and Byzantine scenes, however, are functioning in a transformative, less earth-bound, mode that might be better called symbolic or metaphoric (which, as mentioned, we will investigate further in Chapter 4). http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/port/hd_port.htm (August 2007). please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If they are on different sides, the males are normally on the left for the viewer, the honorific right-hand placement within the picture space. A summary is not available for this content. gr. Mariia B. - Kharkiv University of Humanities "People's Ukrainian 1162) e dellevangeliario greco Urbinate (cod. ), The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 3 vols. The resulting image is thus a delicately balanced compromise, highly sensitive to the subtle gradings of power. Here are five ways to collect the data you need to get started. Also in Ravenna, there is a small mosaic of Justinian, possibly originally of Theoderic the Great in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. Portrait of a Female Donor, c. 1455 Not on View Medium oil on panel Dimensions overall: 41.8 x 21.6 cm (16 7/16 x 8 1/2 in.) Donor portraits are very common in religious works of art, especially paintings, of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the donor usually shown kneeling to one side, in the foreground of the image. Women & Science Portrait Initiative - Support our science Figure 1.6: Emperor Alexios Komnenos approaching Christ, Panoplia Dogmatica, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican, gr. Interests and motivations:Understanding someones why isnt easy, but its a whole lot easier if youve made a note of their main hobbies, family situation, and motivation for giving. Yet even the most cursory of comparisons will reveal that neither does it show ownership or possession in anything like the same fashion as the Oliver representation does. Decide how you'll use the testimonial before asking donors. In their standing posture, they are about a head taller than Christ is seated, making for the clever compromise of appearing to be bigger than Christ within the picture, even though we know that Christ is larger in absolute terms. In medieval art, donors were frequently portrayed in the altarpieces or wall paintings that they commissioned, and in the fifteenth century painters began to depict such donors with distinctive features presumably studied from life. Throughout Byzantine history, a steady stream of pictures in manuscripts, mosaics, ivories, and coins proclaimed the supreme rank of the emperor, and declared his almost-godly standing.Footnote 6 The clearest statement of this is to be found in the numerous divine coronations emanating from the royal palace in Constantinople. [21] By the mid-15th century this was no longer the case, and donors of whom other likenesses survive can often be seen to be carefully portrayed, although, as in the Memling above, daughters in particular often appear as standardized beauties in the style of the day. Donor portraits do just that. 1.28).Footnote 41 This scene is in many ways the equivalent of the later panels in the south gallery of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul that we have already looked at, in that it represents an official act of imperial support for the church, rather than a personal supplication (see Figs. 1.4 and 1.5).Footnote 9 The earlier shows Zoe and Constantine Monomachos with Christ, the later John Komnenos and Irene with the Virgin. From the 15th century Early Netherlandish painters like Jan van Eyck integrated, with varying degrees of subtlety, donor portraits into the space of the main scene of altarpieces, at the same scale as the main figures. 26 J. Oates, Babylon (London: Thames & Hudson, 1986), 175. (Zurich: Artemis, 198199), vol. This concerns an increasing emotionalism corresponding broadly to the division brought about by iconoclasm. Nicolas Rgnier: Self-Portrait with a Portrait on an Easel (Credit: Web Gallery of Art / Wikipedia). The 6th-century mosaic panels in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna of the Emperor Justinian I and Empress Theodora with courtiers are not of the type showing the ruler receiving divine approval, but each show one of the imperial couple standing confidently with a group of attendants, looking out at the viewer. Portraiture: the many faces of European portrait painting, explained We all employ heuristics to help us deal with the world. Finally, artists captured their own likenesses in self-portraits (49.7.25; 14.40.618), where they freely pursued their own ends, whether to claim elevated status, to showcase technical mastery, or to seek frank self-reflection. The Justinian scene, rather, is cut from the same cloth as the earlier Roman image that appears on the south frieze of the Ara Pacis Augustae in Rome (1319 BC, Fig. Figure 1.4: Zoe and Constantine Monomachos before Christ, mosaic in south gallery of the Church of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 102850. A very common Netherlandish format from the mid-century was a small diptych with a Madonna and Child, usually on the left wing, and a "donor" on the right - the donor being here an owner, as these were normally intended to be kept in the subject's home. [3] To do so during prayer is in accord with late medieval concepts of prayer, fully developed by the Modern Devotion. More Than a Portrait on the Wall - Capital Research Center A closer examination of the image makes clear what is happening. It is often passionate and exaggerated, leaving little doubt that the physical exertions required to enter the position could only be motivated by the most powerful feelings toward the figure being adored. Here are some of the key pieces of information we think a good donor portrait should include: Demographic information:As a starting point you need to make sure youre capturing all the headline information you can: name, gender, date of birth, a current address, and contact information. You could even create specific portraits for select, high-value donors and supporters. The result of this combination of the direct donation of the supplicant and the living, breathing quality of the recipient results in an immediate increase in the vividness of the donation and the reality of the contact between lay and holy. Each image, then, plays a delicate game, attempting to combine various factors in different proportions in order to achieve a precise, although not equal, degree of power and piety. There can be no doubt that a close communication is taking place between the two of them.