Barbara Longhi ital. Barbara Longhi ; September 21, 1552 - December 23, 1638) [1] - Italian painter of the Late Renaissance , daughter of . During her lifetime, she became famous as a portrait painter , but nowadays most of the portraits she painted are lost or are in a series of works of art with unidentified authorship . Her works, in particular, numerous images of Madonna and Child , earned her fame as an artist.
| Barbara Longhi | |
|---|---|
| ital Barbara longhi | |
 Self portrait in the image of St. Catherine of Alexandria | |
| Date of Birth | September 21, 1552 |
| Place of Birth | Ravenna , Italy |
| Date of death | December 23, 1638 (86 years) |
| Place of death | Ravenna , Italy |
| Citizenship |  Italy |
| Genre | Painting |
| Study | |
Life and creativity
Barbara Longhi was born on September 21, 1552 in northern Italy , in the city of Ravenna , where she spent her whole life [1] . Her father was a well-known artist- mannerist (1507–1580) [2] . Older brother Francesco (1544-1618) was also engaged in painting. Brother and sister learned art from their father and worked in his workshop [3] ; Barbara helped carry out volume orders for the painting of church altars [2] . In addition, she posed , and also knew how to offer painted pictures to patrons of art [1] . Although her studies were completed by 1570 , the relationship with her father’s family and workshop was not interrupted. There is very little information about her personal life, it is not even known whether she was married [1] .
Barbara was recognized as a portrait painter , but now only one portrait of her brush is known - “The Monk is a Camadolian ” - this is the only picture established by B. Longa, depicting an adult man, and one of the artist’s few canvases indicating the year of his creation (although the last digit is illegible: 1570 or 1573 ) [2] .
captured her daughter in the image of St. Barbara in the painting The Virgin Mary with the Baby and the Saints on the Throne ( 1570 ). It is also assumed that Barbara posed for the canvas of her father "Wedding at Cana of Galilee" [1] . Her “Saint Catherine of Alexandria” (see illustration above) is usually regarded as a self-portrait and bears a great resemblance to the images in the two above-mentioned paintings of her father, for which she served as a model [1] [2] [4] . Mentioning that B. Longi portrayed herself in the image of the aristocratic educated Catherine of Alexandria , I. Gratsiani ( Italian: Irene Graziani ) writes:
| “Presenting herself as a model for portraying a virtuous, sophisticated and highly educated woman, Barbara again turns to themes that Lavinia [ Fontana ] had developed in Bologna a few years before in Bologna, whose works are in the style of late Mannerism ” [4] . It is assumed that Longhi painted herself in the humble image of a righteous woman, so as not to allow herself to fall into the sin of vanity [4] . |
The painting, originally intended for the monastery of St. Apollinaris [1] , was acquired in 1829 by the Art Museum of the city of Ravenna, and restored in 1980 [4] . There are other images of St. Catherine of Alexandria, made by the artist [2] .
Most of the paintings by B. Longi were not signed, but on one of them she put down the letters BLF ( Barbara Longhi fecit - Russian. “Made by Barbara Longi” ) [3] , and on the other - BLP ( Barbara Longhi pinxit - Russian. “Written by Barbara Longhi ” ) [5] . Since almost all her works did not have a signature, it is unknown how many paintings she created and how many of them survived. Only about fifteen paintings are attributed with confidence to her brushes [2] [6] , twelve of them depict Madonna and Child ; [2] such works were very popular due to the Catholic movement against the Reformation [3] . It is believed that some of the works of Barbara could be mistakenly attributed to the creative heritage of her father [5] .
Among the paintings by B. Longhi, dedicated to a different topic than the image of the Madonna, - “ Judith with the head of Holofernes ” (about 1570-1575). The same biblical story was used in his works by other Italian artists, including Fede Galicia , Elizabetta Syrani, and Artemisia Gentileschi . The picture of B. Longhi is fundamentally different from the : the bloody act is not depicted here - instead, Judith B. Longhi seems to be asking forgiveness from the Almighty, raising his eyes to heaven. This corresponds to the ideology of the Counter-Reformation : readiness for repentance, faith in absolution for the repentant [7] .
The simplicity of the composition and the muted palette of colors also meet the requirements of supporters of the traditional Catholic Church. Unlike the grand altar canvases of her father, Barbara's relatively small works are exemplary in their emphasized meditative focus on biblical scenes. She seeks to evoke sympathy from the audience, and, contrary to the tendency to create giant canvases with biblical scenes, she writes serene paintings showing the Mother of God and the baby [1] .
A significant influence on the work of Barbara Longhi had such artists as Raphael , Correggio , Francesco Parmigianino , Marcantonio Raimondi and [1] [2] . Perhaps she was also inspired by the international fame of the famous Italian artist Sofonisba Angissola [8] . However, Barbara was able to develop her own unique style. So, she carefully writes down the details of the image, for example, the neck and hands of Madonna, uses the “warm and delicate palette” [2] . She “follows the traditional composition , bringing to it the intensity of sensations and the updated color scheme” [8] .
The artist died in Ravenna on December 23, 1638 , at the age of 86 [1] .
Recognition
Barbara Longhi - one of the few artists mentioned in the second edition of the legendary work of Giorgio Vasari "The Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects " (1568). Vasari writes that B. Longhi "draws excellently, and she began to paint some things with impeccable grace and good manner of performance" [9] .
However, Germaine Greer, in her book “Racing with Obstacles: Destiny and the Work of Women Painters” ( The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work ) states: “such a“ disorderly ”choice of artists, including hardly assumes a “serious criticism of their achievements" " [10] . Then she gives her own estimates:
| Barbara's achievements were significant, all her small paintings were distinguished by the purity of the lines and the soft brilliance of color [11] |
| Barbara Longhi is characterized by an extremely traditional approach to painting, but she brings to it the simplicity and power of sensations, which is completely uncharacteristic of her father-mannerist or dilettante brother [12] . |
In 1575 , at a lecture in Bologna , Muzio Manfredi spoke about the talent of B. Longhi:
| You should know that today an eighteen-year-old girl lives in Ravenna, the daughter of an outstanding painter, maestro Luke Longhi. Her skill is so amazing that even her own father begins to admire him, especially portraits: if she barely look at the person, she can already write his portrait, and with much more success than someone else who paints a posing model . 9] . |
Despite the fame in Ravenna, during the life of the artist her fame, mainly limited to the limits of his native city . Her painting sheds some light on how the Catholic movement of the Counter-Reformation had an impact on the work of Italian artists [7] .
Painting works in museums of the world
The art museum of the city of Ravenna has seven works by Barbara Longhi, along with eleven canvases of her father and three paintings of her brother Francesco [5] .
Her paintings are represented in the collections of the Louvre Museum ( Paris ), the Brerac Pinakothek ( Milan ), the National Pinakothek of Bologna , the Bassano del Grappa Library Museum, the Walters Art Museum ( Baltimore , Maryland ), the Indianapolis Art Museum , and the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Ravenna.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Barbara Longhi . National Museum of Women in the Arts (2008). The appeal date is June 9, 2011. Archived on June 25, 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cheney, 2001 , p. 454.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Barbara Longhi (not available link) . Art Fortune . The appeal date is June 9, 2011. Archived November 1, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Ceroni, 2007 , p. 170
- ↑ 1 2 3 Ceroni, 2007 , p. 167.
- ↑ Italian Women Artists 3 . Life In Italy . The appeal date is June 9, 2011. Archived November 1, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Cheney, 2001 , p. 455.
- ↑ 1 2 Uglow and Hendry, 1999 , p. 20.
- ↑ 1 2 Tinagli, 1997 , p. 12.
- ↑ Greer, 2001 , pp. 2–3.
- ↑ Greer, 2001 , p. 127.
- ↑ Greer, 2001 , p. 128
Literature
- Ceroni Nadia. Barbara Longhi / Italian Women Artists from the Renaissance Baroque / National Museum of Women in the Arts. - Milan, Italy: Skira Editore SpA, 2007. - ISBN 978-88-7624-919-8 .
- Cheney Liana De Girolami. Concise Dictionary of Women Artists / Delia Gaze. - Taylor & Francis, 2001. - ISBN 978-1-57958-335-4 .
- Greer Germaine. The Obstacle Race . - Tauris Parke, 2001. - ISBN 978-1-86064-677-5 .
- Tinagli Paola. Women in Italian Renaissance Art: Gender, Representation, Identity . - Manchester University Press, 1997. - ISBN 978-0-7190-4054-2 .
- Uglow Jennifer S., Hendry Maggy. The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography . - UPNE, 1999. - ISBN 978-1-55553-421-9 .