Giovanni Battista Moroni at the Royal Academy: Getting Face to Face with the 16th Century

Yesterday I spent a spontaneous afternoon at the Royal Academy's Giovanni Battista Moroni exhibition. I didn't entirely know what to expect from it but I had seen some of the works in the National Gallery's collection so from what little I knew I was looking forward to it.

Moroni is one of the 16th century's many underestimated and overshadowed Italian renaissance artists. His lack of popularity must be down to his relatively niche clientele, he worked mainly in the area surrounding his home in Lombardy and he didn't travel as widly as many of his more well known contemporaries. Luckily for his reputation his paintings regained favour in the Victorian era when they appealled to the tastes and romantic sensibilities of collectors including the National Gallery's Charles Eastlake.

The exhibition is a relatively small one in the Sackler Wing but there is plenty in it and it should not be overlooked in favour of the glitzy Allen Jones or the heavy and awe inspiring Anselm Kiefer. The works chosen showcase a good cross section of Moroni's works including some altarpieces and portraits that encompass characters from various walks of Italian society from aristocrats to his most famous work the humble tailor (above).

While the altarpieces are interesting and show how effectively Moroni managed to appeal to his counter-reformation patrons it is of course his portraits that steal the show.

The care and sensitivity with which he treats his sitters is evident from the first room. He is able to capture more than just a likeness of his sitters but to portray something of their character.
We see rich aristocrats that look as though they have the weight of the world resting on their shoulders or who seem thrilled to be exactly where they are in life showing off their wealth and circumstance.

As well as being pscyhologically interesting the paintings are also a sumptuous visual spectacle. One of the features of his paintings is the bluey grey background he often employs. This allows the intricatly detailed costumes to pop of the canvas. We are shown a masterclass in painting the fashionable clothing and jewellery of the day notable examples being the 'boy in pink', the portrait of Isotta Bombatti and the gentleman pictured below in his cosy looking (and very on trend) fur.

I really enjoyed the exhibition and would recommend it to anyone interested in portraiture.

It runs until 25th January and costs £13.50 (£12 without donation)

Portrait of Christopher Wren Dean of St George's Chapel Windsor

I recently did some work experience at the St George's chapel archive in Windsor Castle. This gave me the chance to do all sorts of interesting things. One of these was to look at the portraits of former Deans of the Chapel and I wrote a blog post about one of them, Christoper Wren (senior).

Today my Image of the month entry was posted on their blog and I am feeling pretty proud of myself. So take a look and when you're there take a good long explore of some of the other fascinating posts.

Click here to be redirected.

How to solve a problem like Kate Middleton?

A lot of fuss has been made over Paul Emsley's portrait and I  think it has been terribly unfair. Painting a royal is a notoriously difficult challenge for any artist. The public are looking for a grand, beautiful and recognisable depiction of the person in question. 

However, they are figures that we are rarely seen in any state less than perfectly presented. Kate Middleton is no exception to this, in fact she is the epitome of it. You rarely see a photograph of her that does not appear to have been shot in ideal lighting, that she is not completely made up and that she doesn't sport her frankly enviable locks and her lovely smile.

I mean you just have to Google image her to see that...

So for an artist whose photo-realist approach feeds off making the imperfections in a face beautiful by celebrating the honesty of them this portrait was always doomed to have the critical lash-back that it has received. 

The artist himself said as much stating:  "The fact she is a beautiful woman is, for an artist, difficult. When you have lines and wrinkles it is much easier as an artist to capture them as a  person. Obviously she has none of that.”

Looking at his other work demonstrates this point admirably. His BP Portrait award winning painting of Michael Simpson has to be one of my favorite contemporary portraits.

This approach is not only effective when it is applied in such an extreme way or only to men, as this portrait of Katerine shows. You can see the slight bags and lines underneath the sitters eyes and the slight line on one side of her mouth which when combined with the fly away hairs over her forehead gives a much more true depiction.

To see more work by this phenomenal artist then do go to his website it really is worth it!

To make you mind up about his Kate Middleton portrait for yourself head to Room 37 in the National Portrait Gallery. It is quite different in person and if it still isn't your cup of tea then go and check out some of the other royal portraits. 

I wonder if they would be considered so fantastic if we had been barraged with hundreds of photographs of those sitters.