Bernardino Licinio

309 Pages·2013·1.97 MB·English

by  Karine Tsoumis

Bernardino Licinio: Portraiture, Kinship and Community in
Renaissance Venice
by
Karine Tsoumis
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Art
University of Toronto
© Copyright by Karine Tsoumis 2013
Bernardino Licinio: Portraiture, Kinship and Community in
Renaissance Venice
Karine Tsoumis
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Art
University of Toronto
2013
Abstract
Bernardino Licinio was a painter of Bergamasque origin active in Venice from c. 1510 to
c. 1550. Licinio was a prolific painter of portraits, concert scenes and religious images for the
home and headed a prosperous family workshop. Yet the artist is largely denied importance
within the current art historical narrative, being conceived as “minor,” “provincial” or “second-
rate.” My dissertation questions the “constructedness” of historical identities and presents the
first nuanced understanding of Licinio’s place within Venetian culture. I argue that his status as
“minor” is a modern construct rather than a reflection of his contemporaries’ perception. My
dissertation inscribes itself within endeavours to “de-centre” the Renaissance conceptually, and
is especially indebted to recent studies of material culture that challenge art historical hierarchies
and aesthetic biases.
The dissertation provides a multilayered reading of Bernardino Licinio’s artistic identity through
frameworks that stem from what I consider unique aspects of his practice, while others arise
from problems posed by his historiographical reception. The artist’s position between Venice
and Bergamo provides the line of enquiry for chapter one, where I engage with the Bergamasque
ii
community conceived, on the one hand, as a form of historiographical framing, and on the other,
as a social reality. In chapter two, music as a cultural phenomenon provides a frame for
exploring Licinio’s intellectual world. I contend that his engagement with musical themes
suggests an involvement with the communities of interest fostered by music as a social act.
Chapter three addresses Licinio’s hitherto unrecognised contribution to shaping a tradition of
female portraiture. The chapter thus challenges the accepted conceit of women’s “artistic
invisibility” in Venetian art, while simultaneously highlighting Licinio’s role in forming the
genre of family portraiture. Chapter four presents a case study of two images where the artist
talks about himself and his family: the Portrait of Arrigo and Agnese Licinio with their Children
and the Self-Portrait with Workshop. Through these portraits, I explore the convergence of
familial and professional identities, the conceptual ties between the home and the family, and the
structures of kinship that provided the foundation for the Renaissance workshop.
iii
Acknowledgments
This thesis could not have been completed without the assistance of many wonderful individuals
and generous institutions. I would like to thank my advisor Philip Sohm for his continued
encouragements, thoughtful advice and brilliant insights, as well as for teaching me to trust my
instincts. I am also extremely grateful to members of my dissertation committee, Matt Kavaler
and Nicholas Terpstra, and to my readers Giancarla Periti and Blake de Maria, for their careful
reading of my dissertation and thought-providing questions and comments.
I would like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada and the
Department of Art at the University of Toronto for the financial assistance provided throughout
my doctoral degree. My research abroad was generously funded by a Grant for Independent
Research on Venetian History and Culture from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, a Joseph
Frieberg Grant for Research at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, and by the
School of Graduate Studies.
It has been an immense pleasure to be part of a stimulating community of scholars at the
University of Toronto. I wish to thank many colleagues for their help and interest in my work,
including Angela Glover, Alexandra Hoare, Guita Lamsechi, Carolina Mangone and Betsy
Moss. Many friends in Montreal and Toronto have offered both moral and emortional support. I
especially wish to thank Julie Girard and Noura Karazivan for many years of unfailing
friendship.
My deepest gratitude goes to my family. My mother Julienne Tsoumis and my sister
Mélina Tsoumis have been my most devoted supporters, always showing faith in me. My
husband Emanuel Petrache has been by my side every step of the way. I thank him for his love,
patience and for the strength he has given me. This dissertation is dedicated to him.
iv
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iv
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii
List of Maps ................................................................................................................................. xxi
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1
‘[I]l mio Bernardin Licino’ ............................................................................................................. 1
Bernardino Licinio in Context ......................................................................................................... 4
Venice and Bergamo ................................................................................................................................ 4
The Family Workshop .............................................................................................................................. 6
Critical Reception ............................................................................................................................ 9
Vasari to Boschini .................................................................................................................................... 9
Modern Constructs ................................................................................................................................. 13
The Lombard Connection and the Giorgionesque Family ..................................................................... 15
“De-centering” the Renaissance .................................................................................................... 19
Preview of Chapters ...................................................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 1 ARTISTIC GEOGRAPHY, IMMIGRATION AND THE POLITICS OF
IDENTITY IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY VENICE .................................................................... 29
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 29
On the Origins of the “Lombard Soul”: Naturalism in a Historiographical Perspective .............. 31
‘The essence of all expatriates’: The Bergamasque Immigrant Between Satire and Reality ....... 44
Urban Geography, Community Dynamics and the Bergamasque Painters .................................. 52
Neighbourhoods and Scuole ................................................................................................................... 53
Social Networks ...................................................................................................................................... 60
Cultural Contacts: The Export of Altarpieces to the Bergamasque Valleys ................................. 64
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 70
v
CHAPTER 2 MUSIC, PAINTING AND LICINIO’S PUBLIC ................................................... 72
Introduction: Musical Cultures ...................................................................................................... 72
The Public for Music ..................................................................................................................... 75
The Sight of Sound ........................................................................................................................ 87
Satire and Morality ........................................................................................................................ 96
The Old Man and the Hurdy-Gurdy ....................................................................................................... 96
Tools of Seduction: Music and the Courtesan ...................................................................................... 103
Theatrical Cultures ............................................................................................................................... 110
A Style of Pictorial Legibility: Naturalism, Painted Texts and the Close-Up ............................ 114
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 125
CHAPTER 3 REPRESENTING WOMEN ................................................................................. 127
Introduction: “A rather unpleasant portrait by Bernardino Licinio” ........................................... 127
The Assertive Female Likeness ................................................................................................... 133
Motherhood According to Bernardino Licinio ............................................................................ 151
Depicting the Christian Family: The Emergence of the Autonomous Family Portrait ........................ 152
The Widow as Paterfamilias ................................................................................................................. 161
Female Genealogy ................................................................................................................................ 166
The Female Viewer ..................................................................................................................... 170
Material Identities ....................................................................................................................... 179
Conclusion: The Compromised Portrait and the Geography of Art ............................................ 185
CHAPTER 4 BERNARDINO AND ‘I LICINI’ ......................................................................... 189
Introduction: The Family Workshop and the Venetian Tradition ............................................... 189
The Material Conditions of Family Identity ............................................................................... 192
Introducing the Family ......................................................................................................................... 192
Dynastic Ambitions .............................................................................................................................. 194
Home and Identity ................................................................................................................................ 202
The End of the Family Romance .......................................................................................................... 209
vi
The Artisan’s Famiglia ............................................................................................................... 211
In the Workshop .......................................................................................................................... 219
Self-Portrait and Collectivity: Precedents ............................................................................................ 219
Venetian Art Theory ............................................................................................................................. 223
The Master as Teacher .......................................................................................................................... 227
The Workshop Community .................................................................................................................. 229
The Art Market and the Family Author ...................................................................................... 232
Conclusion: Circa 1535 – Claiming a Place in the History of Venetian Art .............................. 243
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 244
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 251

vii
List of Figures
Figure 1 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of Arrigo and Agnese Licinio with their Children,
1530-1535, Rome, Borghese Gallery
Figure 2 Bernardino Licinio, Self-Portrait with Workshop, 1530-1535, Collection of the
Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle, Alnwick
Figure 3 Bernardino Licinio, Triptych of the Resurrection, 1528, Church of San Giovanni
Battista, Lonato
Figure 4 Bernardino Licinio, Madonna Enthroned with Saints, 1535, Church of Santa
Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
Figure 5 Bernardino Licinio, Five Franciscan Martyrs, predella from the Madonna
Enthroned with Saints, 1535, Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
Figure 6 Bernardino Licinio, Courtesan at the Clavichord with a Suitor and a Procuress, c.
1520-1525, Royal Collection, Hampton Court, London
Figure 7 Bernardino Licinio, Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist, 1520s, Private
Collection
Figure 8 Fabio and Giulio Licinio, The Annunciation, 1544, engraving (after Pordenone’s
Annunciation Altarpiece, Murano, Santa Maria degli Angeli)
Figure 9 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Family, 1524, Royal Collection, Hampton Court,
London
Figure 10 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Man, from the illustrated inventory of Andrea
Vendramin’s collection, 1627
Figure 11 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Woman, from the illustrated inventory of Andrea
Vendramin’s collection, 1627
Figure 12 Bernardino Licinio (?), Portrait of a Young Man, from the illustrated inventory of
Andrea Vendramin’s collection, 1627
Figure 13 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Young Man, 1510s, Kress Collection, Howard
University, Washington D.C.
Figure 14 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Young Man with a Skull, c. 1515, Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford
Figure 15 Giovanni Battista Paggi (?), Double Portrait with a Mirror, 1580s, Martin-von-
Wagner-Museums, Würzburg
viii
Figure 16 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Man with a Toothpick, c.1515, Museo Civico,
Vicenza
Figure 17 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Man, c. 1535, Venice, Collezione Cini
Figure 18 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Widow and her Three Sons, c. 1520, The State
Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg,
Figure 19 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Woman, 1532, Private Collection
Figure 20 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Man with an Antiphonary, 1524, City Art
Gallery, York, UK
Figure 21 Giovanni Battista Moroni, Portrait of a Tailor, c.1565-1570, London, National
Gallery
Figure 22 Sofonisba Anguissola, The Chess Game, 1555, Muzeum Narodowe, Poznan
Figure 23 Sofonisba Anguissola, Family group, c. 1559, Nivaagards Malerisammling
Figure 24 The “Facchino” from Cesare Vecellio, Habiti antichi et moderni, 1590
Figure 25 Veronese, Presentation of the Cuccina Family to the Madonna, c. 1571,
Staatsgalerie, Dresden
Figure 26 Giulio Licinio, St Anthony the Great with other Saints, 1553, Lonno, Church of S.
Antonio Abate
Figure 27 Cima da Conegliano, Olera Polyptych, c.1486-88, Olera, Parish church
Figure 28 Francesco di Simone da Santacroce, Annunciation, Bergamo, Accademia Carrara
(originally for church of Sant’Alessandro a Spino al Brembo)
Figure 29 Palma Vecchio, San Giacomo Polyptych, c. 1515, Peghera di Taleggio, Church of
San Giacomo Maggiore
Figure 30 Lorenzo Lotto, Sedrina Altarpiece, 1542, Sedrina, Church of San Giacomo
Figure 31 Lattanzio da Rimini, Saint Martin Polyptych, 1499-1501, S. Martino a Piazza
Brembana
Figure 32 Giovanni de Galizzi da Santacroce, Madonna with Saints, 1543, Accademia
Carrara, Bergamo (side panels) and Private Collection, Bergamo (central panel)
Figure 33 Giorgione, Concert Champêtre, 1509-1510, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Figure 34 Giorgione, Boy with a Flute, c. 1510, Royal Collection, Hampton Court, London
Figure 35 Giorgione, The Three Ages of Man, early sixteenth century, Palazzo Pitti, Florence
ix
Figure 36 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Man with a Viola da Gamba, c. 1515, Kress
Collection, Memphis Brooks Museum
Figure 37 Giovanni Cariani, Young Man Playing the Lute, 1515-1516, Musée des Beaux-
Arts, Strasbourg
Figure 38 Gian Girolamo Savoldo, Portrait of a Young Man with a Recorder, c. 1525,
Private Collection, New York
Figure 39 Lorenzo Costa, Bentivoglio Concert, c. 1493, Madrid, Thyssen Bornemisza
Museum
Figure 40 Bernardino Licinio, Allegory of Love (Allegory of Musical of Time), c. 1520,
Koelliker Collection, Milan
Figure 41 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Woman with a Music Book, c. 1515-1520, Alte
Pinakothek, Munich
Figure 42 Bernardino Licinio, detail from the Portrait of a Woman with a Music Book
Figure 43 Bernardino Licinio, detail from the Portrait of a Man with an Antiphonary
Figure 44 Vincenzo Capirola, Compositione di meser Vincenzo Capirola, 22v, 1515-1520,
Newberry Library, Chicago
Figure 45 Bernardino Licinio, Portrait of a Man with Musical Instruments, 1520s, Private
Collection
Figure 46 Attributed to Giovanni Cariani, Portrait of a Composer, early 1520s, Private
Collection, Bergamo
Figure 47 Painter from the Veneto, Concert, c.1530-1540, Museo Borgogna, Vercelli
Figure 48 Frontispiece of Pietro Aaron, Toscanello in musica, published in Venice, 1523
Figure 49 Leonardo, Portrait of a Musician, 1486-1487, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
Figure 50 Bernardino Licinio or workshop, Allegory of Love, 1520s, Private Collection
Figure 51 Unknown artist, Allegory of Love, seventeenth century, Private Collection
Figure 52 Titian, Interrupted Concert, c. 1511-1512, Pitti Gallery, Florence
Figure 53 Giovanni Cariani, A Concert, c. 1518-1520, National Gallery of Art, Washington
Figure 54 Bernardino Licinio, Concert with a Garland, c. 1520, New York, Private
Collection
Figure 55 Attributed to Titian, The Lovers, c. 1510, Royal Collection, London
x