FEATURED COCKTAIL: Aperol Spritz (Aperol, dry prosecco, sparkling water, orange or lemon wedge); the mocktail is sparkling water with orange blossom water. For the complete recipes, visit www.frick.org/cocktails-curator.
Bronzino’s portrait of Lodovico Capponi is such a perfect example of the elegance and refinement of Mannerist portraiture. The way Bronzino captures the fabric, texture, and expression is masterful!
How pleasant to hear Aimee Ng! How refreshing to be reminded that there are still some intelligent, civilized, and articulate people left in these United States. God love her, and God save the Frick.
It's expected that you have the knowledge -- but to combine it with great storytelling makes the viewer experience that much more memorable. Thank you Aimee Ng.
What a delightful episode Aimee! I imagine the young people you mention who see this marvelous work for the first time are amused to discover that Lodovico's "sword" is a very personal weapon indeed! 😉
We first had this cocktail in Amsterdam on Kings Day! Love it! The dress is just so amazing. Lodovico is an interesting looking young man.the fabrics are so well done! another wonderful "evening" of art!
Another gem from Ms Ng The insight together with information makes each of her presentations faultless . I cant wait until the 19th to take the virtual tour with her
This is my favorite painting, and Aperol Spritz is a favorite cocktail! I knew a bit of the history of the painting, but I learned more today. Thank you!
Thank you, Ms. Ng. What a pleasure to share a cocktail with lovely you. You bring out the best of COVID. And I am proud to say that I, too, am a friend of the dear, if a touch arrogant, Ludovico.
Until Aimee showed us the coin in his right hand, I thought it was a smartphone. I do love these wonderful programs from The Frick, a place of Happy Memories for me, having gone to Columbia College 1944-48. I was assigned "The Polish Rider" by Rembrandt to research and write a paper in Sophomore year. It turned me on to Art and museums.. I have returned many times, but now I am retired in Florida, and so glad I have lived into this modern era of technology. Brava Aimee!
Good call about the cameo. Knowing the story about his love affair being a secret for a period of time, it could be one of Bronzino's jokes to have it concealed the way it is with just a hint of identity because after all no secret is ever really a secret. The Met has an interesting video on RU-vid (look up 'Among Rare Men') about Bronzino & his circle, One of his friends who was also a member of the Academy of the Humid, which Cosimo de Medici saw as a threat and had shut down, was Benedetto Varchi who aside from writing many lewd, coded burlesque poems, wrote a love poem (though some see it as asking for patronage) and a very lewd poem about Lodovico Capponi inferring he was also a homosexual. The line reads "a riccota cheese is better than a capon." According to the lecturer, in Tuscan burlesque language a capon was synonymous with catomite which is a derogatory term for a bottom. What the heck is going on in this poem to Lodovico Capponi? So knowing Bronzino ran with this kind of crowd, could this painting of a page be some sort of love offering of his own? In this case, "sorte" makes more sense as a plea in vain although Cappone was straight. As for why he chose, in his 50s, to represent himself as a young man: Vanity. In mid-life crisis he probably saw that era as when he peaked. Still happens today. Weird that more is known about this Page than Bronzino, a famous painter. Regardless, as Ms. Ng states, Lodovico, 500+ yrs later apparently still has many people in this thrall.
I would have thought the codpiece reached it's 'apogee' during the reign of Henry VIII; no-one could, or dared, to wear one like him. What an amazing likeness: you can see people like that walking around today. Thank you.
Wonderful! Now to get Aperol,(?) I have the Prosecco, and hopefully we get another warm day soon. I love this artist (and my keyboard keeps changing his name to Bronzing!!!) Anyway, I remember what an influence he had on Ingres. That green landscape like cloth backdrop, with the black and white is so powerful. He did use such jazzy intense colored backgrounds, they feel contemporary. Thanks again for your insightful descriptions.
Thank you for another informative and entertaining talk. Incidentally, for an example of how politically important (if not ironic in this case) the codpiece was in the 16th century have a look at the portraits of Henry V111!
It's not by Ms. Ng or Mr. Solomon but there is a Frick lecture on this RU-vid channel by a Ms. Bridgeman about cloth and fashion in this era and it goes in depth about the slashes of the arm (in general, not of this painting) and yes, a lengthy discussion of the evolution of the codpiece, both of which Ms. Ng touches on here.
Aimee, You should consider the possibility that the 'cameo' he holds is a miniature version of his earlier portrait. That would tie rather nicely with the notion's around identity and and personality. The cameo is partly concealed -as our past is. Which is the 'true' self? Is it that of our prime, or the self of our significant achievements, or our ultimate end. When we were young and optimistic, we wondered which of our own selves would go to heaven. I think Brozino (the poet & painter) is saying both will.
Hello here am l also again thanks for your kindness to show me this nice noblr man.He looks a little bit serious and the costume is not too much fancy. His figure shows as having made some sports and therefore attractive.cio arridevrrvi grazia
Helen clay fricks house here in pittsburgh carries on the lovely frick legacy.....bijou collection....as well as a car museum that i find surprisingly delightful
Thanks very much for this fascinating lecture! I am curious about this romantic story of Ludovico Capponi and Maddalena Vettori. Where can I find out more about it? There is a short account of it in the article on Capponi in the Italian Wikipedia, but it's not clear what their source is.
Fabulous lecture. Where do the other painting you speak about reside? Would love to hear that when you described them. Thank you. Also I cannot find the Palazzo Capponi Vitorie hotel on TripAdvisor. How do I find it?
Well done! Why did you not invoke the term, Mannerism? You said Renaissance portrait at the beginning but no further mention. Is this, and Bronzino, not the "typical" mannerist artist? Cheers.
He has lovely red curls. Is he holding a leather wallet? The cod piece to make up for the weak jaw or maybe that is just the elongated style of the painter.
Cod pieces were all the rage during the late Renaissance period -look at the portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein or of the emperor Charles V by Titian.Just imagine if men wore a similar thing today -and we think they were prudes in the past!
@@corvandermerwe4405 , yes I can see it , but lighter here , still I wonder about the truth in the color we see on the internet , the hue and intensity too ???