BODY

THE BODY

DO WE REALLY VALUE IT? ENJOY IT? DO WE ENSURE THAT WE ONLY PUT NATURAL PERFUMES AND OILS ON OUR BODIES?

DO WE UNDERSTAND THE RELATION BETWEEN OUR BODY AND OUR ‘SELF’?

IT IS AN IMPORTANT SUBJECT, AND WAS SO IN ART IN ITALY FROM 1400-1530

‘THE RENAISSANCE NUDE’ EXHIBITION AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY AS PRESENTED TO ME THIS MORNING BY ASSISTANT CURATOR LUCY CHISWELL WOKE ME UP! THANK YOU LUCY!

THE SAME PERSON DRAWN 3 TIMES IN RAPHAEL’S DRAWING OF THE 3 GRACES FOR THE CEILING OF THE LOGGIA OF THE VILLA FARNESINA IN ROME. THIS IS BY THE YOUNG MASTER AGED 34 IN 1517, THE CEILING FRESCO IN THE VILLA WAS THEN EXECUTED BY HIS PUPILS. 20X26 CM, RED CHALK ON PAPER (DRAWING IN COLLECTION OF H. M. THE QUEEN)

STUDY 1526 FOR A FIGURE IN ‘THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS’ IN THE CAPPONI CHAPEL, FLORENCE. THE LOOSE LINES EMBODY EMOTION. DRAWN WHEN THE ARTIST WAS 32. CHARCOAL ON PAPER (DRAWING IN GALERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE)

FOR ME PONTORMO IS THE FIRST MASTER OF CAPTURING MOVEMENT IN DRAWING

PONTORMO WAS AN ORPHAN WHO WAS BROUGHT UP IN ARTISTS’ STUDIOS OF FLORENCE AT THE FLOWERING OF DRAWING FROM LIFE IN ITALY

HIS TALENT FOR REPRESENTING THE BODY WAS SOON RECOGNISED AND HE ENJOYED STRONG PATRONAGE FROM GREAT FLORENTINE FAMILIES

HIS MASTERWORK IS THE CAPPONI CHAPEL IN THE CHURCH OF SANTA FELICITA’ ON THE ‘OTHER SIDE OF THE ARNO’ IN FLORENCE, WHERE WE WORKED WITH HIS 10 YEARS YOUNGER PUPIL BRONZINO

BRONZINO’S PORTRAIT OF A YOUTH AS ST SEBASTIAN. 87X76.5 CM, OIL ON LIME-WOOD PANEL, PAINTED IN 1533 WHEN THE ARTIST WAS 29. (FROM MUSEO THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA, MADRID)

BRONZINO’S ST SEBASTIAN IS A PORTRAIT OF A PARTICULAR YOUNG MAN, NOT AN ANONYMOUS SAINT. HIS BIG HANDS COME OUT OF THE PICTURE AT YOU. HE’S POINTING AN ARROW TO WHAT HE IS LOOKING AT. HE HAS BEEN STRUCK BY AN ARROW HIMSELF, BUT HE DOESN’T SEEM TO MIND! IT MUST BE CUPID’S ARROW