Luxurious fabrics signified the status of the wearer. But in determining the significance of garments in paintings it is important to consider them as an integral part of works of art. For the 15th century spectator the outfit would not have meant anything on its own. Therefore, a painting has to be considered as a whole.
In Florence, the Medici used painted gold brocades as cheaper substitutes for actual gold brocades to make a statement of their social status. In judging the wearer's status, what mattered was the type of fabric (wool, silk), the quality and the grade of silk, the expense and appropriateness of colour.
Venetian Dress and Politics
The qualities of fabrics were commented upon by contemporaries. For example, in his diaries Marino Sanuto described the clothing of the doge and Venetian senators in terms of style, colour and types of fabric.
When Leonardo Loredan wore a simple outfit, a crimson ormesino made of plain silk fabric to express the Venice's position after the defeat by the League of Cambrai, Sanuto disapproved. He insisted that a cloth of gold would have been more appropriate in order to show that Venice stood dignified despite its defeat. This attitude indicates that the type of clothing and materials were closely observed and coul have been perceived as a political statement.
The Portrait of the Doge Leonardo Loredan
The portrait of the Doge Leonardo Loredan in the National Gallery in London could be regarded as such a statement as it is an image of an ideal ruler. Unlike the Tuscan republics like Florence, Venice was a republic with an elected head of state, the Doge, who presided over the Grand Council. The doge was elected for life and had an important ritual function but was prevented from acumulating wealth and power in the way the Medici did in Florence.
The Venetian laws were extremely strict with regards to glorification of their doges as individuals. One of the laws specified that profile portraits of doges on coins were forbidden: 'In Venice, no matter how wealthy or important the individual, there could be no competitor to the image of the state' (Evelyn Welch).
Importance of Portraiture and Image
The portrait forms a part of the Venetian tradition of recording the likeness of every doge. These portraits were displayed in the council chamber of the goverment seat, the Palazzo Ducale. The position of the images on the walls of the council chamber was significant as they were placed in a frieze running above a series of paintings depicting events from history of Venice.
In this way, the doge was incorporated into the very fabric of Venetian society and its history. Indeed, the purpose of such portraits was to present an individual as a representative of a community. The doge's portrait stood for the collective values. He is portrayed as patriarch, head of illustrious family with a pedigree rooted in the city's early history. At the same time, his portrait is a representation of head of state, of the community of Venice.
Values of the Venetian State Conveyed Through the Image of the Doge
The doge's dress code for his portrait had to be carefully chosen. Venice saw itself as inheritor of the Roman Republic and in the current situation, it is understandable that the government needed to elevate the city by elevating its institutions, which in turn, were elevated through an individual, the doge. The portrait of the doge could then stand for the state itself.
The Doge's bust portrait is reminiscent of Roman Imperial sculpture. Alluding to the greatness of Roman Empire, the Doge's portrait may have been intended as a representation of a great ruler of Venice as the 'empire of the sea'. The Doge was the Emperor of the Sea.
Sources:
- Lisa Monnas, Merchants, Princes and Painters: Silk Fabrics in Italian and Northern Paintings 1300 - 1550, Yale University Press 2008
- Carol M. Richardson, Locating Renaissance Art, Yale University Press 2007
- Diane Owen Hughes, Sumptuary Law and Social Relations in Renaissance Italy, inThe Italian Renaissance,Blackwell Publishing 2002
- Evelyn Welch, Art in Renaissance Italy 1350 - 1500, Oxford University Press 1997
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