Three Artists - david pollard

Ekphrastic poems from the master of the genre. These are works that get behind the skin of three major artists and the skins of paint they have left us. Here is the enigma of Parmigianino’s self portrait painted onto a curved piece of wood that dissimulates itself in a multitude of ways done in the style of John Ashbery. Here is Caravaggio’s dark life and the images that emerged from it. Here is Rembrandt painting his way into blindness. All done in the dense and febrile language that Pollard is known for. A major achievement.

40% introductory discount. Contact me direct here

The small image of Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror done by Francesco Mazzola known as Parmigianino or ‘the little one from Parma’ in 1524 to take to Rome as a gift to Pope Clement VII and an example of his virtuosity . It is striking for a number of reasons. Firstly it is a strange kind of dissimulation as the work is done not on a flat surface but on a convex one. Thus what looks like a brilliant piece of trompe l’oueil is in fact not. Parmigianino was fascinated by the specchio da barbieri, the barbers’ mirror and this is the result. It is sexually ambiguous. Painted at the age of 21, it is the work of his youth yet was done half way through his short life. He is dressed like a young aristocrat rather than an artist. The ambiguities go on.

Vasari saw it in the house of the poet Aretino and thought it brilliant so it is not surprising that John Ashbery was fascinated by the image and wrote an long poem about it. This is done in much the same style although from a different perspective.

Like the other two artists in this book he was fascinated by his own features and painted himself many times although, like Caravaggio who died at 38, he died young (at the age of 37) while Rembrandt, who lived into his 60s, was around to look at his face at it aged.

These faces, these self-portraits are a fascinating glimpse into the souls of three great masters of the late Renaisance and have fascinated me for years. Here are the results of that fascination.