Point of view: The portrait of Bianca Cappello by Scipione Pulzone : a portrait makes a career

The portrait of Bianca Cappello by Scipione Pulzone : a portrait makes a career (12)

Bibliographic data

Series

Persistent identifier:: 0018219

Title:: Point of view

Place Of Publication:: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Publisher:: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Document type:: Series

Collection:: Point of view; House Publications

Copyright:: KHM-Museumsverband

Language:: English

ISSN:: 2676019-8 ZDB-ID

Periodical volume

Persistent identifier:: 0028034

Title:: The portrait of Bianca Cappello by Scipione Pulzone : a portrait makes a career

Shelfmark:: 102.256

Volume count:: 12

Publisher:: KHM-Museumsverband

Document type:: Periodical volume

Collection:: Point of view; House Publications

Publication year:: 2015

Copyright:: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0); KHM-Museumsverband

DOI:: 10.60477/khm1-0028034

Preface

Author:: Weppelmann, Stefan

3 Point of View Every portrait evokes the absence of the depicted person, while the expressive power of his or her features reminds us of the sitter. This is the dual nature of portraiture that explains why in the Renaissance a portrait was appreciated as much as – and sometimes even more than – the real person it depicted. Produced around 1585, this portrait of the Venetian Bianca Cappello is an espe- cially well documented example of that. Following its completion, the painting was venerated and idolised, treatment normally reserved for saints or rulers – but their frequently fictitious portraits make no claim to be truthful. Here, how- ever, Bianca’s face and dress are rendered with such verisimilitude that the de- piction seems to oscillate between idealisation and perfect truth. In addition, some of the details function as references to the lady’s turbulent, even adventur- ous history. Francesca Del Torre Scheuch, a curator of the Collection of Paintings, uncov- ered the work’s secrets and put together this exhibition, supported by the schol- arly contributions of Katja Schmitz-von Ledebur, curator of the Imperial Treas- ury, and two of the KHM’s conservators, Ingrid Hopfner and Elke Oberthaler. Last but not least, this publication may also serve as an invitation to learn more about a great painter: Scipione Pulzone – one of the period’s most celebrated portrait painters active in Rome, Naples and Florence. This is the twelfth show in our series “Points of View”, and I would especially like to thank Francesca Del Torre Scheuch and her co-authors. I am also most grate- ful to the colleagues at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in charge of graphics, layout, proof reading and the English translation, and to Guido Messling, a cur- ator of the Collection of Paintings, who looks after our “Points of View”. I feel it is important to continue this beautiful series and its engaged and chal- lenging discourse with our visitors. Stefan Weppelmann Director of the Collection of Paintings

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