The National Gallery in London has an exquisite portrait that Giovanni Bellini
painted of Leonardo Loredan in 1501, just when Loredan became Doge of Venice. Doges (Dukes) were elected for life in the 16th century, and Loredan stayed in the post from 1501 until 1521, twenty years, longer than many other Doges.
1) It captures the lifelike features of the man, so that his fellow Venetians could
identify him. From other portraits done of him by other artists, it is reasonable to
assume that Bellini made an accurate account of his face and dress. Both Carpaccio and Catena did painted portraits where the features seem the same though the paintings are not as skillful.
Leonardo Loredan is age 65, and the life experiences of that many years show on his face. Bellini paints him at a certain moment in time. He has just become Doge, after years of serving in several capacities in the Venetian government. He began as a lawyer working on the banking oversight committee called the "Giudici di Petizion"(Judges of Petitions), then was involved in foreign policy in the Collegio dei Savi, and later was Podesta di Padova, the governor of Padua, the large city which was part of the Venetian mainland. Before being selected Doge, he had also been part of what we might call the "Cabinet" as a Procuratore di San Marco. Bellini conveys Doge Loredan's understanding of human beings in his kind but shrewd eyes and in the mouth lines that only move up slightly.
2) Bellini's portrait captures the features of a lifelike man, however. He seems alive in this portrait, as if in the next moment his eyes will blink and he will move off the wooden parapet.
3) The portrait takes on the outline of a complete geometrical shape, a triangle.
The effect of that mathematical entity imposed on the figure is that the viewer
thinks they see the WHOLE of the man, not just his chest and head. We do not need to see his legs and shoes and the rest of his robe to comprehend him as
a complete person.
4) Bellini's painting captures the beauty of Venetian damask silk cloth in the formal dress worn by the Doge for official duties, and Bellini contrasts the delicate light and shade of the foliate gold print on the folds of the cloth
5) The portrait captures the official "corno," cap worn to distinguish the Doge as the leader in the Ducal Palace of Venice. This ducal headgear may have had its origins in images of Attis, the Phrygian god of vegetation:
or in the cap of the ancient god Mithras:
2nd century B.C. Mithras with bull, snake and dog, in British Museum, London.
Both suggest that Venice's power is associated with the Eastern Mediterranean.
The hard horn-shaped hat is covered in the same material as the gown below with an added gold filigree band.
In other official doge portraits, the camauro strings are tied under the chin, as in this profile image of Doge Giovanni Mocenigo, a predecessor to Loredan.
6) At the same time that the portrait seems alive, it makes the Doge look like a piece of sculpture. In fact, this Doge had a sculpted portrait done of himself in terracotta by Danese Cattaneo that is extant in Birmingham's Art Gallery in England, and the figure is cut off at the chest slightly above the line where Bellini cuts the figure.
The sculptural quality exhibited in the painting shows Bellini competing with sculptors to paint a man who seems as three-dimensional as he would in a sculpture. The illusion of the cloth, the skin, the corno, the wooden parapet, all are a demonstration of the magic of painting in 2-dimensions a man who appears real and alive and full-bodied.
7) The artist is proud of his illusion and even enhances it by signing the work with his Latin name, Ioannes Bellinus, on a slip of paper that he imagines has
The sculptural quality exhibited in the painting shows Bellini competing with sculptors to paint a man who seems as three-dimensional as he would in a sculpture. The illusion of the cloth, the skin, the corno, the wooden parapet, all are a demonstration of the magic of painting in 2-dimensions a man who appears real and alive and full-bodied.
been folded twice, then unwrapped and attached to the wooden parapet.
All of the "conceit," "concetto," of the signature is a display of brilliance in painting that redounds to the painter's credit as much as the signature itself does. Strange that the signature should also be large enough that viewers might think it was the name of the sitter or the title of the work.
8) Why is this portrait such a powerful image, though? It is not just the sheen on the cloth, not just the wise expression from years of varying experiences in
government, not just the spectacular "corno" and "camauro," all of which contribute to the "photographic" sense of the person. Beyond that, and as in all great works of art, the artist has encapsulated the community that the Doge represents in his own portrait. He has done that by suggesting the Doge's bust portrait looks like a Venetian galley with a sail.
9) The white wispy strings that hang down from the camauro appeal to the viewer's desire to pull, as though we could control a whole sail from these
sheet lines. Their qualities of frivolity and randomness, untidiness and
interruption of the pure outline of the man contribute to the lifelike presence
in the scene. In them Bellini has caught the light, and with them, the next moment for this man. Their presence as lines of white in a sea of blue suggest
the wake of the ship of state.
