[CATERINA] "Bellini’s Queen of Cyprus Goes on View"

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11280

Message Posted:
26/07/2011 10:35

(...) Like many Renaissance paintings, this one, which has just been cleaned and restored by the Met in preparation for the show, tells the story of a powerful figure humbling herself before a genius artist. The inscription on Bellini’s portrait of the queen states: “The senate of Venice calls me daughter. Cyprus, seat of nine kingdoms, is subject to me. You see how important I am, yet greater still is the hand of Gentile Bellini, which has captured my image on such a small panel.” (...)

A great painting of a great woman with a fascinating history, the last Queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro!

Source: ▶ [ http://www.observer.com/2011/07/bellinis-queen-of-cyprus-goes-on-view-at-the-met/ ].