{"id":447014,"date":"2025-12-14T18:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T18:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/447014\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T18:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T18:49:15","slug":"in-a-landmark-exhibition-timken-revisits-16th-century-portraiture-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/447014\/","title":{"rendered":"In a landmark exhibition, Timken revisits 16th-century portraiture \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Curator\u2019s Words\u00a0<\/strong>is an occasional series that takes a critical look at current exhibitions through the eyes of curators.<\/p>\n

Eight months ago, when the Union-Tribune first launched the In the Curator\u2019s Words series, Derrick Cartwright, in a thoughtful and straightforward manner, talked about the significance of juxtaposing Albert Bierstadt\u2019s 1864 oil-on-canvas painting \u201cCho-looke, the Yosemite Fall\u201d with First Nation Canadian artist Kent Monkman\u2019s 2012 work \u201cThe Fourth World.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cartwright, director of curatorial affairs for the Timken Museum of Art and a professor at the University of San Diego, has a way of demystifying art and making it more accessible.<\/p>\n

Today, Cartwright is back, this time to talk about a stunning new exhibition at the Timken focused on 16th-century portraiture, \u201cPoetic Portraits: Allegory & Identity in Sixteenth-Century Europe.\u201d It opened Nov. 5 and is on view through March 29 at the Balboa Park museum.<\/p>\n

\""Giovanni<\/a>\u201cGiovanni Battista Caselli, Poet from Cremona,\u201d (1557-58, oil on canvas) by Sofonisba Anguissola. (Museo Nacional del Prado)<\/p>\n

Q: Tell us more about the genesis of this exhibition. How did it come to be at the Timken?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> This exhibition grew out of an opportunity to borrow a painting from the Prado Museum in Madrid. Earlier this year, the Timken lent its only work by Paolo Vernonese, a 16th-century Venetian painter of huge renown, to the Prado\u2019s blockbuster exhibition devoted to the artist. When we asked for a painting in return, we knew that Sofonisba Anguissola, another leading artist from that time period, was well represented within the Prado\u2019s permanent collection.<\/p>\n

Since the Timken has depth in 16th-century art but owns no Renaissance representations by women artists, it was a priority for us to bring something by her to the institution. Megan Pogue, the director, successfully negotiated to exchange our Veronese loan for Sofonisba\u2019s portrait of \u201cGiovanni Battista Caselli, Poet of Cremona,\u201d and from that moment forward, we knew we had the makings of a worthwhile exhibition.<\/p>\n

\""Portrait<\/a>\u201cPortrait of a Lady in a Green Dress\u201d (1530, oil on panel) by Bartolomeo Veneto. (Putnam Foundation, Timken Museum of Art)<\/p>\n

Q: You\u2019ve called this a \u201clandmark exhibition\u201d for the Timken, San Diego and the United States. What makes this such an important exhibition?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Scholarship on women artists of the Renaissance has become an increasingly important part of the art history discipline. Past generations of academics vastly underestimated the number of women making a living as artists during the 15th to 17th centuries.<\/p>\n

When Giorgio Vasari published his monumental biographical study \u201cThe Lives of the Artists\u201d in 1550, he mentioned only a few women mentioned in a text dominated by men like Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo.<\/p>\n

By the time the second edition of \u201cThe Lives \u2026\u201d appeared in print, in 1568, Vasari noted a handful of standout artists who were women \u2014 among them Sofonisba Anguissola.<\/p>\n

Today, she is admired by scholars for her portraits and devotional paintings. Her work has been included and featured in numerous museum surveys, most recently in Boston and Detroit. Next year, a major monographic study of Sofonisba\u2019s life and lasting reputation will appear in print.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoetic Portraits\u201d is, in part, a belated reconsideration of this artist\u2019s role in shaping our understanding of this period and women artists\u2019 roles in visual culture more broadly.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoetic Portraits\u201d will eventually include two works by Sofonisba, hung side by side. However, a small painting owned by (San Diego Museum of Art) is currently in Seoul; when it returns from an exhibition there, it will go right to the Timken, thanks to our generous colleagues next door. Thank you, Michael Brown!<\/p>\n

\""Guy<\/a>\u201cGuy XVII, Comte de Laval\u201d (ca. 1540, oil on oak panel) by Fran\u00e7ois Clouet (Putnam Foundation, Timken Museum of Art)<\/p>\n

Q: The work that anchors this exhibition is a painting by Sofonisba Anguissola, one of the most celebrated women artists of the Renaissance. Tell us more about her and her place in art history.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Sofonisba Anguissola grew up in Cremona, Italy, in a fairly large family that fully supported her creative efforts. Sofonisba had an opportunity to study with leading artists of Cremona, and she advanced quickly as an apprentice. Her father was proud of her progress, and he is said to have sent her drawings to Michelangelo, who would have been quite old at the time.<\/p>\n

Legend has it that Michelangelo admired the young artist\u2019s work and encouraged her career. Later on, after her reputation as an artist was secure in her hometown, she was invited to join the Spanish Court, where her talent flourished.<\/p>\n

Sofonisba was an artist whose success enabled her to travel quite widely in her own time and, as this project demonstrates, her work still holds tremendous appeal for current generations of art enthusiasts. Only a handful of her works can be found in the U.S. today, so it is nice that she is traveling the globe again.<\/p>\n

Q: Some viewers might be intimidated by the title \u201cAllegory and Identity in Sixteenth-Century Europe.\u201d What guidance can you offer viewers when seeing this exhibition to help them understand and appreciate the works?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Art historians have a bad habit of putting colons in the middle of their titles, I suppose. \u201cPoetic Portraits\u201d is intended to be a straightforward description of what visitors will encounter in the Timken\u2019s temporary exhibition space. That is, 13 works of art that share the common theme of portraiture at bottom. \u201cAllegory and Identity in Sixteenth-Century Europe\u201d is a mouthful but points toward the project\u2019s finer takeaways.<\/p>\n

The fact is, portraiture changed during this period, moving away from images based in profile renderings \u2014 which were somewhat easier for artists to make \u2014 to three-quarter views of their sitters\u2019 faces \u2014 which were considered more revealing of the individual.<\/p>\n

The way in which artists conceived of a portrait\u2019s purpose evolved, too. In the early 16th century, symbolism and allegory were frequently deployed when making a formal image of someone. Who they were in the world might be signaled by what they held in their hands or what was displayed nearby.<\/p>\n

By the end of the 16th century, a likeness did not depend so heavily on those attributes. A more modern conception of identity with the face as an index of personality prevailed. Tracing this development enables us to think more critically about our own relationship to image production. Think of the selfie: I wonder what Renaissance beholders would make of a new genre where the maker alone determines the look and longevity of the portrait?\u00a0 Something to think about when visiting this exhibition.<\/p>\n

\""Portrait<\/a>\u201cPortrait of a Youth Holding an Arrow\u201d (1500-10,
\noil on panel) by Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio (Putnam Foundation, Timken Museum of Art)
\n\u201cPoetic Portraits: Allegory & Identity in Sixteenth-Century Europe\u201d<\/p>\n

When:<\/strong> Through March 29. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays<\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong> Timken Museum of Art, 1500 El Prado, Balboa Park<\/p>\n

Tickets:<\/strong> Free<\/p>\n

Phone:<\/strong> 619-239-5548<\/p>\n

Online:<\/strong> timkenmuseum.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the Curator\u2019s Words\u00a0is an occasional series that takes a critical look at current exhibitions through the eyes…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":447015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,8159,1582,276,171,1370,3549,3550,7264,1072,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,5548],"class_list":{"0":"post-447014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-balboa-park","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-things-to-do","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa","24":"tag-visual-arts"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115719424519283615","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}