The Myths and History of Red Hair

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Is the Mona Lisa red-haired?

The other day I came across this high-resolution picture of the Mona Lisa. Since the file is very heavy, I won't upload it here. If you zoom in, you will notice that the sitter's hair is reddish, especially on the left side of the painting.

Is this the original colouring of the painting or is the reddish hue due to conservation treatments and cleaning?

Probably the answer to this question also lies in the identity of the woman portrayed. As you know, the official theory is that she is Lisa Gherardini, wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. The painting is thought to have been commissioned for their new home, and to celebrate the birth of their second son, Andrea. The Italian name for the painting, La Gioconda, means 'jocund' ('happy' or 'jovial') or, literally, 'the jocund one', a pun on the feminine form of Lisa's married name, Giocondo. In French, the title La Joconde has the same meaning.

The other theory considered by art historians concerns Isabella d'Este. Isabella d'Este (1474–1539) was Margravine of Mantua and the most famous patron of the arts of her time. Leonardo was her sister Beatrice d'Este's court painter in the Duchy of Milan. In 1499, after the expulsion of the Sforza (his employers), Leonardo fled to the court of Isabella d'Este. Over a period of three months, Leonardo made several portrait drawings of Isabella (documented by letters). One of these drawings, a profile drawing, is preserved in the Louvre and shows similarities.

From the subsequent years 1501 to 1506, several letters survive in which Isabella—directly and through agents—pursued Leonardo with demands for the promised execution of the (oil) portrait (and her agents promised or also confirmed Leonardo's commencement). The Mona Lisa falls precisely within this period. The hierarchical society of the Renaissance makes the portrait of an upper-class noblewoman more likely than the wife of a modestly merchant.

Other unofficial theories refer to Cecilia Gallerani (the famous Lady with an Ermine), Costanza d'Avalos, Duchess of Francavilla, Caterina Sforza and Leonardo himself.

Lady with an Ermine

La dama dei gelsomini, presumed portrait of Caterina Sforza by Lorenzo di Credi

Another interesting theory refers to Isabella of Aragon. This presupposes that the painting took place in the 1490s, during da Vinci's Milanese period, but the painting has officially been dated as later. However, according to Renaissance historian Maike Vogt-Luerssen, not only the sitter is Isabella of Aragon, but she and Leonardo got married after the death of Isabella's husband, Gian Galeazzo Sforza. They had five children (two sons and three daughters). If you scroll down this page you'll find many painting potraying Isabella of Aragon (at least according to Vogt-Lüerssen) and, at the bottom, several books and articles (in English and in German) about the theory Isabella of Aragon/Mona Lisa.


Portrait of a Lady, by Bernardino Luini (presumed portrait of Isabella of Aragon)

Also, this is a portrait by Raffaello Sanzio, allegedly depicting Isabella of Aragon as Mona Lisa.

A possible evidence of the sitter being red-haired is this copy of the Mona Lisa, commonly attributed to Leonardo's co-worker Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, better known as Salaì. Here the red colour is more obvious.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Ginger cats, the most intelligent of all!

Those of you who have or have had red cats will no doubt have noticed that they are much more intelligent than cats of other colours (mine are 😁).
The interesting thing is that the famous ethologist Desmond Morris has also noticed this.
Here is an English translation of a couple of paragraphs from this article.

"Is there a relationship between the colours of cats and their character?
To answer this question, the well-known British ethologist Desmond Morris has carried out a very thorough study that relates the colour of a cat's coat to its personality. And the results are truly fascinating!

The basic consideration from which Morris started is very simple: cats of the same colour tend to develop very similar behaviour. The next step was to observe numerous similar specimens to try to associate each colour with a precise character. This led to some interesting considerations.

...

Red cats

They are the most intelligent. It is no coincidence that the very few cat trainers on the world stage favour them for their acts in circus and television shows. It is difficult to say to what such intelligence is due. Desmond Morris has a theory of his own: accustomed from an early age to being the centre of attention because of their unusual and striking colour, red kittens are said to have developed a kind of 'egocentrism' that makes them more receptive and in need of attention than others."

And what do you think is the reason for this higher intelligence of red cats? 😸

Monday, November 14, 2022

Red Hair in Art: Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis

Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis (c. 1455 – c. 1508) was an Italian Renaissance painter, illuminator and designer of coins active in Milan. Ambrogio gained a reputation as a portraitist, including as a painter of miniatures, at the court of Ludovico Sforza.

Little is known about his training. He initially worked as an illuminator in collaboration with his half-brother Cristoforo. He produced seven miniatures for a Book of Hours in 1472 (the work no longer exists) and again for a Book of Hours in 1474. He then worked on designs for the local mint in Milan along with his brother Bernardino. He subsequently worked for the court of the Sforzas for a number of years, mainly as a portrait painter. It is during this time that he offered hospitality to Leonardo da Vinci when he arrived in Milan.
A marriage was arranged between Emperor Maximilian I and Bianca Maria Sforza, niece of Ludovico il Moro, but before the former would commit to the arrangement, he requested a portrait of his proposed bride. The portrait of Bianca Maria was painted by Ambrogio, who followed her to Innsbruck after the wedding in 1493, and there he worked for several years in the lady's service before returning to Milan, where he designed coins for the mint, designed and supervised tapestry works, and prepared stage scenery. In 1502 he produced his only surviving signed and dated work, a portrait of the Emperor Maximilian. Much of Ambrogio de Predis's artistic output remains in dispute.

He and his brother Evangelista are known to have collaborated with Leonardo da Vinci on the painting of the Virgin of the Rocks for the altarpiece in the chapel of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception at the Church of San Francesco Grande, Milan. Leonardo painted the central panel with the Virgin of the Rocks (National Gallery, London), while the two brothers created the side panels.

Portrait of a Lady (assumed to be Beatrice d'Este)

Portrait of Gian Galeazzo Visconti

Girl with Cherries

Portrait of an Unknown Woman

Portrait of Bianca Maria Sforza

Portrait of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Portrait of a Young Man (Gian Galeazzo Sforza?), attributed to de Predis

Red Hair in Art: Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio

Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio (or Beltraffio) (1466 or 1467 – 1516) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance from Lombardy, who worked in the studio of Leonardo da Vinci. Boltraffio and Bernardino Luini are the strongest artistic personalities to emerge from Leonardo's studio. According to Giorgio Vasari, he was of an aristocratic family and was born in Milan.

Madonna and Child

Female Portrait


Portrait of a Young Man

Portrait of a Young Man

Portrait of a Young Boy (sometimes identified with Francesco Maria Sforza, son of Isabella of Aragon and Gian Galeazzo Sforza)

Virgin and Child

Pala Casio (Madonna and child with St Giovanni Battista, St Sebastian and two donors)

Detail of the above

Madonna and Child

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Red Hair in Art: Pontormo

Jacopo Carucci (1494 – 1557), usually known as Jacopo da Pontormo, Jacopo Pontormo, or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound stylistic shift from the calm perspectival regularity that characterized the art of the Florentine Renaissance. He is famous for his use of twining poses, coupled with ambiguous perspective; his figures often seem to float in an uncertain environment, unhampered by the forces of gravity.

Descent from the Cross

Annunciation

Supper in Emmaus

Holy Family

Visitation

A Youth

Portrait of Niccolò Ardinghelli

Lady with a Basket of Spindles

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Red Hair in Art: Paride Bordone

Pàris Paschalinus Bordón, also known as Paride Bordone (5 July 1500 – 19 January 1571) was an Italian painter of the Venetian Renaissance who, despite training with Titian, maintained a strand of Mannerist complexity and provincial vigour.

In 1534–35, he painted his large-scale masterpiece for the Scuola di San Marco a canvas of The Fisherman Presenting the Ring to Doge Gradenigo (Accademia). However, comparison between this latter painting and the near-contemporary, and structurally similar, Presentation of the Virgin reveals Bordone's limitations, his use of superior perspective which creates dwarfed distant perspectives, and limited coloration relative to the brilliant tints of Titian.

Bordone also painted smaller cabinet pieces, showing half-figures, semi-undressed men and women from mythology or religious stories in a muscular interaction despite the crowded space. He frequently combined portraiture with allegory.

Paris Bordone subsequently executed many important mural paintings in Venice, Treviso and Vicenza, all of which have perished. In 1538 he was invited to France by Francis I, at whose court he painted many portraits, though no trace of them is to be found in French collections, the two portraits at the Louvre being later acquisitions. On his return journey he also worked for the Fugger palace at Augsburg, but again the works have been lost.

His works feature many redheads and he himself may have been one.