Physical description
Mirror frame showing an emblematic female head, relief in painted cartapesta (papier mâché). The form of the frame is determined by two putti hanging head-downwards with arms outstretched, holding a circular moulded border for the mirror. At the top their bodies merge in interlacing stems. I the irregular area above the is the head of a girl with elaborately dressed brown hair decorated with a jewel, wearing a gold dress with a white edge and a coral necklace and pendant. The flesh parts are painted naturalistically, and the head is set on a dull blue ground.
Place of Origin
Siena
Date
ca. 1475-1500 (made)
Artist/maker
Landi, Neroccio de'
Materials and Techniques
Painted cartapesta (papier mâché)
Dimensions
Height: 45.7 cm
Width: 41.6 cm
Depth: 5.2 cm
Weight: 0.96 kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Historical context note
The female figure in this frame closely resembles the Mary Magdalen, in Neroccio's painting of a Madonna and Child from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Washington. She has the same hairstyle and the same features - even the inclination of the head and the slant of the eyes are identical. There are strong similarities with the Portrait of a Lady by Neroccio in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Both of these paintings date from last quarter of the 15th century and it seems likely that all three were produced after the same model and close in time. This theory is advanced by Gertrude Coor, who also suggests that the mirror frame is a squeeze in cartapesta from a model by Neroccio, probably of clay. Coor also mentions that the iconography of Putti emerging from acanthus leaves was applied later by Neroccio on the Virgin’s chair in an altarpiece of 1496. Ellwood and Braun point out that children's heads with leaf mouldings were very a very popular border for picture frames, and Coor mentions Francesco di Giorgio's bronze candlesticks from the Cathedral of sienna which also sport a design of leaves and putti. All this indicates that the this mirror frame presents fashionable and popular features, and it may have been one of a series.
There has been some debate as to whether the figure is a portrait of a real person, or an idealised woman. The three similar depictions in very different contexts indicate that the latter is more likely. This is supported by Pope-Hennessy who argues against the portrait idea, firstly by pointing out the medium of the cartapesta , which he says, was an indication that several examples were produced, and secondly by connecting this frame with other mirror frame reliefs, one in cartapesta, three in maiolica and a fourth in wood which show idealised human heads.
Door Dia Peleen suggests that such mirrors were appropriate for a chamber, a bed chamber or camera, and indeed the iconography belongs to the female private sphere. Ajmar and Thornton argue that the belle donne on maiolica plates were gifts exchanged as part of betrothal or wedding rituals., partly because many of them have been found with piercing to allow wall-hanging. the link between the belle donne iconography and this mirror, may indicate that such mirrors were gifts from the groom to the bride., exchanged at the wedding or earlier in the courtship process., and then hung on the wall to commemorate the event.
The function of the idealised woman depicted on the mirror itself may be linked to the contemporary understanding of the face as the mirror of the soul. This theory had a tradition extending to Greek civilisation where heroes were given an epithet meaning beautiful and good. . People in the Renaissance also connected outer signs of beauty with the inner beauty and goodness of the immortal soul. The new science of the physiognomy was a development of this idea, whereby traits such as courage and or melancholy could be revealed by particular facial features, such as the shape of the nose or the height of the brow. In this context, women confronted with a mirror such as this , were expected to compare their own reflection with the idealised image above, and also perhaps, to meditate on their own inner beauty; and be led by the comparison with the woman depicted, to improve themselves, both inside and out.
The papier-mâché was not of itself a valuable material, however this mirror frame was not necessarily destined for the low end of the market.; furthermore the cartapesta, items were not necessarily unusual; the inventory of Neroccio's workshop made in 1500 shows that cartapesta objects were a staple product.
Descriptive line
Mirror frame showing an emblematic female head, relief in painted cartapesta (papier mâché), workshop of Neroccio de' Landi, Italy (Siena), last quarter of the 15th century
Subjects depicted
Women; Cherubs; Jewellery
Categories
Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
