#1 Looking at Pictures (Berger)

Bernardino Campi painting Sofonisba Anguissola, by Sofonisba Anguissola

I chose the painting described as, “Bernardino Campi painting Sofonisba Anguissola,” because I felt that it had a deeper meaning than just a glance’s interpretation.  At the first look of this painting, one might assume its message is simply to portray a man showing his affection for his lover through a portrait like so many other paintings try to accomplish.  However, when I looked more closely at the man’s face, I wondered, “What exactly is the relationship between the artist and the woman in this portrait?”  I then noticed that his expression seems more authoritative than passionate.  Also, the portrait of the woman is very formal and professional, not the work of a lover depicting his better half.  I wondered if I could find the answer by asking another question:  “What is the social context surrounding the time frame in which this painting was created?   I found that in the early 1550’s there were very few successful female artists and after further research I discovered that the author, Sofonisba Anguissola , was illustrating her mentor creating her portrait (http://peterjamesfield.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-have-there-been-no-great-women.html.)  So, in a world dominated by men, this woman paints her instructor from which she learned her skill, painting her.  What is the quality of their relationship?  I speculate that if she had a deep admiration for him she would have painted her portrait smaller and her mentor larger.  Instead we see only his side profile and he seems to be fading into the background as she stands out as the focus of the image.  I am not saying that she had no respect for him, neither that she disliked him, but perhaps she was trying to make the argument that just because he was a man does not mean that he was more significant. 

I suppose that perhaps Berger would go through about the same process to extract the meaning from an image.  He also researched when the painting by Hals was created in order to know the context of the image.  Berger later said, “It is not possible to produce circumstantial evidence to establish what their relations were… Study this evidence and see for yourself” meaning that you must have proof to back up your interpretation if you are making a statement about history.  You can’t mystify the past or taint history to prove your side.  Completing this process made me realize the importance of analyzing traces of history.  If no one wondered about this image, Sofonisba Anguissola’s attempt to make herself heard in a society that wasn’t listening would have been unsuccessful.