Renaissance Portraiture
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A tradition of Renaissance portraiture began to develop as early as the last quarter of the thirteenth century. Portraits were found mainly on tomb monuments and the degree of individualization of particular works by sculptors Pietro Oderisi (1271-1274), Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1282), Gano da Siena (c. 1315) and Tino di Camaino (completed 1321) are cited by White as examples of portraiture that was based on the stylistic imperatives of the International Gothic style. But such works were unusual and the statue of Ranieri del Porrina by Gano da Siena is unique in its clear individualization and the relative absence of Gothic elements in the "straightforward and entirely unmannered naturalism" of the portrait. A strain of realistic portraiture did develop in the Northern countries around this period. But Gano prefigured the mainstream of Italian portraiture which did not develop until the mid-fifteenth century. When this field did develop, however, it took place under the influence of a major new source of inspiration -- Roman portraits and the general classicizing trends of fifteenth century sculpture, painting and thought. Other impetuses also affected the development of portraiture. The tradition of formal tomb sculpture had a parallel, for example, in the memorial portraits that began to be painted in the mid-fifteenth century. These memorial portraits displayed the person in profile and, despite basic realism and attention to detail, there is a distinctive lack of
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on tradition began. This work was a landmark in that it was "the first monumental post-classical profile portrait and the first labeled self-portrait of an artist."
Portrait medallions became very popular objects and were cast with likenesses of rulers, military leaders and humanist scholars and writers. The idealization of the first two types did not lend itself to great psychological portraiture but "the claim of the humanist upon posterity rested on knowledge integrated in the character, and the duty of the medalist was to define its traces on his face." The humanists themselves probably exerted considerable influence over how they were represented in these portraits. The selection of classical hair and clothing types was often important to them but far more important was placing themselves in a tradition that derived directly from Rome. According to the ideas of the Roman historian Pliny, who was read extensively by the humanists, "the spread of a man's reputation and the preservation of his memory" was accomplished with the "exhibition of his portrait." Images (perhaps even true portraits) of earlier writers such as Petrarch and Dante had long been sought-after items. Now the fifteenth century humanists, with this
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1253
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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