Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan
The Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan (Italian: Ritratto del doge Leonardo Loredan) is a painting by Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, dating from c. 1501–02. It portrays Leonardo Loredan, Doge of Venice from 1501 to 1521, in his ceremonial garments with the corno worn over a linen cap, and is signed IOANNES BELLINVS on a cartellino ("small paper"). It is on display in the National Gallery in London.
| Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan | |
|---|---|
| Italian: Ritratto del doge Leonardo Loredan | |
 | |
| Artist | Giovanni Bellini |
| Year | c. 1501–02 |
| Medium | Oil on poplar panel |
| Subject | Leonardo Loredan |
| Dimensions | 61.6 cm × 45.1 cm (24.3 in × 17.8 in) |
| Location | National Gallery, London |
Description
This formal portrait depicts Leonardo Loredan in his official state robes as Doge of Venice, with its ornate buttons. The distinctively shaped hat is derived from the hood of a doublet.[1] As with other traditional portraits of the Doge, the composition resembles a Roman sculpted portrait bust. The painting is signed IOANNES BELLINVS – the Latin form of Giovanni Bellini – on a cartellino attached to a parapet at the base of the composition.[1]
John Pope-Hennessy described Bellini as "by far the greatest fifteenth-century official portraitist", adding that "the tendency towards ideality that impairs his private portraits here stood him in good stead, and enabled him to codify, with unwavering conviction, the official personality".[2]
Provenance
The painting would initially have been in Venice and was probably looted when Napoleon conquered the city. It was bought in 1807 for thirteen guineas by William Thomas Beckford, who in 1844 sold it to the National Gallery for £630 (equivalent to £63,471 in 2019).[3]
References
- "Doge Leonardo Loredan". The National Gallery. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009.
- Pope Hennessey, John (1966). The Portrait in the Renaissance. London: Phaidon. p. 52.
- "Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan – Analysis".
Sources
- Books
- Bätschmann, Oskar (2008). Giovanni Bellini. London, England: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-357-4.
- Christiansen, Keith; Weppelmann, Stefan, eds. (2011). The Renaissance Portrait: From Donatello to Bellini. New York, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-300-17591-2.
- Brown, David Alan; Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia (2006). Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11677-9.
- Gasparotto, Davide (2017). Giovanni Bellini: Landscapes of Faith in Renaissance Venice. Los Angeles, California: J. Paul Getty Museum. ISBN 978-1-60606-531-0.
- Humfrey, Peter (1997). Painting in Renaissance Venice. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-06715-6.
- Nichols, Tom (1997). Titian: And the End of the Venetian Renaissance. Islington, London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78023-227-0.
- Journals and articles
- Cevizli, Antonia Gatward (n.d.). "Bellini, a Doge and how to use visual clues to explore a painting". London, England: Sotheby's.
- Glover, Michael (21 August 2009). "Great Works: Doge Leonardo Loredan (1501-2), Giovanni Bellini". The Independent. London, England.
- Humfrey, Peter (2003). "Giovanni Bellini". Bellini family. Grove Art Online. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T007643. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Jones, Jonathan (16 September 2000). "Doge Leonardo Loredan, Giovanni Bellini's (c.1501-4)". The Guardian. London, England.
- Online