Portraying Love
metmuseum.org
The Renaissance in Italy was an era filled with the sweet sensations of love. It was the era of poets, musicians and bards – all of whom created art in order to express the wonders and tragedies of love. In addition to all of these well-known mediums of affection, there was a massive collection of paintings, pottery, sculpture, jewelry, and tapestry created to depict the theme of love as well. Art and Love in Renaissance Italy, a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that runs until February 16, 2009, explores the ways in which artists utilized these mediums to portray the different aspects of love – from courtship and marriage to adultery.
Just contemplating the multiple of facets of love seems complicated, but the curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art show their brilliance in the wonderful coordination of this exhibition. The complex topic of love is broken down by the curators into four simpler themes – marriage, betrothal, children, and erotic love. Besides signs, this division of themes is emphasized by the wall colors. Marriage is red, betrothal is blue, childbirth is green, and erotic love is crimson. In addition, to separate areas for each theme, there are various quotes relating to the four aspects of love in the different areas.
In order to further simplify the topic of love, the curators made the successful decision to have only a few pieces in each room. The extra space allows visitors to take the time to explore each individual work. This is especially important in an exhibition that includes over 150 works of art that range from painting to pottery. The piece chosen by the museum to represent the exhibition is the Plate with Fede Motif. An image of the plate adorns the introductory area, which provides information on what the exhibition is about. The piece is a highly decorative plate with the depiction of clasped hands in the middle. The clasped hands were a symbol for fede, or the Italian term for faith. These hands are located inside a series of concentric circles of various designs. The circle symbolized perfection and prosperity in the Renaissance era. The colors used in the piece are gold and blue – two of the most expensive pigments to make during that time period.
With such a wide array of pieces present in the exhibition, a visitor might get lost in the beauty of these objects. However, the curators do an excellent job of providing factual information about each piece. Each different area has a detailed overview of the pieces located in each part and in addition, each piece has detailed background information written on its title card. This is especially useful for the childbirth trays located in the section about children. One of the most striking of these trays was the Childbirth Bowl with the Naming of John the Baptist and Della Casa and Tornaquinci Arms. It depicts the scene of Saint John the Baptist being named. The colorful clothing of the figures in the piece stand out due to the black background. In addition, the piece is framed in a gold circle, the symbol of perfection. Although many of the visitors at the exhibition were struck by the beauty of the piece, they were not sure what the tray was used for. The most common theory among the crowd was that the baby was placed on this tray after it had been born, but that would probably ruin the tray. These confused visitors found their answers on the wall text that stated that these trays were used just like a normal tray – to hold food. Fruit was placed on it or a bowl of soup for the new mother.
Having been created in a time and place in which women did not possess a lot of power, it is surprising how many of the works in the exhibition are focused on women. The betrothal area is focused on showing how beautiful women are, while the childbirth section portrays how powerful they are. Then, the erotic love section depicts how sexually powerful women are. The Renaissance may have been a time of great male geniuses such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but a large portion of the artwork created was for women. It may have been an unintentional theme present in the exhibition, but it was a very powerful message.
