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Red herring: Botticelli's redhead not touched up by Rossetti, V&A says Red herring: Botticelli's redhead not touched up by Rossetti, V&A says
(5 days later)
It has been one of the more intriguing art historical mysteries for more than a century: did the great pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti touch up a Botticelli painting he owned by giving the sitter a vibrant red rinse?It has been one of the more intriguing art historical mysteries for more than a century: did the great pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti touch up a Botticelli painting he owned by giving the sitter a vibrant red rinse?
On Thursday, curators at the Victoria and Albert Museum gave the definitive answer – the red hair of the 15th-century woman known as Smerelda Bandinelli is her own and the supposed Rossetti intervention can finally be laid to rest as a myth.On Thursday, curators at the Victoria and Albert Museum gave the definitive answer – the red hair of the 15th-century woman known as Smerelda Bandinelli is her own and the supposed Rossetti intervention can finally be laid to rest as a myth.
The V&A made the discovery after restoration and new scientific research and revealed the findings to coincide with the announcement of what promises to be a groundbreaking exhibition exploring the artistic legacy of Botticelli. The V&A made the discovery after restoration and scientific research. The museum revealed the findings to coincide with the announcement of what promises to be a groundbreaking exhibition exploring the artistic legacy of Botticelli.
Rossetti bought the painting from Christie’s in 1867 for a bargain basement £20 and spent another £4 having it cleaned. Rossetti bought the painting from Christie’s in 1867 for a bargain basement £20 and spent another £4 having it cleaned. There has been plenty of evidence to suggest that Rossetti did indeed make the sitter’s hair redder, not least because of his lasting obsession with red-haired women.
There has been plenty of evidence to suggest that Rossetti did indeed make the sitter’s hair redder, not least his lasting obsession with red-headed women. Related: Hippies tainted my love for Botticelli | Letters
“Rossetti was keen on redheads in the sitters he chose, which went against the tradition of the time,” said Ana Debenedetti, curator of paintings at the V&A. “You wouldn’t paint somebody with red hair … from medieval times people with red hair were believed to be evil.”“Rossetti was keen on redheads in the sitters he chose, which went against the tradition of the time,” said Ana Debenedetti, curator of paintings at the V&A. “You wouldn’t paint somebody with red hair … from medieval times people with red hair were believed to be evil.”
Then there was a mysterious line in a letter Rossetti wrote to his secretary, Charles Augustus Howell, three days after he bought the Botticelli. “I have been restoring the headdress, but don’t mean to tell,” he wrote.Then there was a mysterious line in a letter Rossetti wrote to his secretary, Charles Augustus Howell, three days after he bought the Botticelli. “I have been restoring the headdress, but don’t mean to tell,” he wrote.
All this led to the myth that it was Rossetti who made her a redhead. By removing a layer of thick, yellowing varnish, restorers have discovered the original paint layers were less altered than previously thought.All this led to the myth that it was Rossetti who made her a redhead. By removing a layer of thick, yellowing varnish, restorers have discovered the original paint layers were less altered than previously thought.
In any event, the sitter is perhaps more strawberry blonde. “She is not red,” said Debenedetti. “She is Venetian blonde, which was very common at the time in Italy.”In any event, the sitter is perhaps more strawberry blonde. “She is not red,” said Debenedetti. “She is Venetian blonde, which was very common at the time in Italy.”
Curators admitted some relief at the findings as it means they do not have to debate whether to undo Rossetti’s assumed intervention. Curators admitted some relief at the findings as it meant they did not have to debate undoing Rossetti’s assumed intervention. Infrared reflectography, a technique used to look at details not visible to the naked eye, has also revealed more information on how Botticelli designed and painted the portrait.
Infrared reflectography, a technique used to look at details not visible to the naked eye, has also revealed more information on how Botticelli designed and painted the portrait. Rossetti adored the painting and it undoubtedly changed his approach to his own practice, inspiring a series of large paintings of beautiful women which includes La Ghirlandata, which will be lent to the show by the Guildhall art gallery.
Rossetti adored the painting and it undoubtedly changed his approach to his own practice, inspiring a series of large paintings of beautiful women which includes La ghirlandata, which will be lent to the show by the Guildhall art gallery. Two years before his death he sold Portrait Of A Lady Known As Smerelda Bandinelli (c1470-5) for 300 guineas to his patron, the collector Constantine Alexander Ionides, who bequeathed it to a grateful V&A in 1901.
Two years before his death he sold Portrait of a Lady known as Smerelda Bandinelli (c1470-5) for 300 guineas to his patron, the collector Constantine Alexander Ionides, who bequeathed it to a grateful V&A in 1901. The painting will be the poster girl and starting point for the V&A’s big spring 2016 show called Botticelli Reimagined. The show aims to tell the story of a 15th-century artist who was almost completely forgotten for 300 years. “If you had asked the first director of the National Gallery what he thought of Botticelli, he would have had no idea who you meant,” said Mark Evans, senior curator of paintings at the V&A who is co-curating the show with Debenedetti.
The painting will be the poster girl and starting point for the V&A’s big spring 2016 show called Botticelli Reimagined.
The show aims to tell the story of a 15th-century artist who was almost completely forgotten for 300 years. “If you had asked the first director of the National Gallery what he thought of Botticelli, he would have had no idea who you meant,” said Mark Evans, senior curator of paintings at the V&A who is co-curating the show with Debenedetti.
Evans said there had been no room for Botticelli in the story because the perceived heroes of Renaissance art were Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo. “All art prior to that was regarded as, basically, redundant.”Evans said there had been no room for Botticelli in the story because the perceived heroes of Renaissance art were Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo. “All art prior to that was regarded as, basically, redundant.”
That began to change because of an antiquarian interest in Botticelli and by the 1860s it was the pre-Raphaelites such as Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones who were banging the drum the loudest. That began to change because of an antiquarian interest in Botticelli, and by the 1860s it was the pre-Raphaelites such as Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones who were banging the drum the loudest.
There will be a big focus in the show on how Botticelli has influenced and inspired modern artists including Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman and David LaChapelle.There will be a big focus in the show on how Botticelli has influenced and inspired modern artists including Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman and David LaChapelle.
Fashion designers and film-makers have been similarly affected by Botticelli and the show will have clips from the 1962 Bond movie Dr No – where a calypso singing Ursula Andress walks from the sea in her white bikini, clasping a conch shell – and Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, where a naked Uma Thurman emerges serenely from a giant sea shell. Fashion designers and film-makers have been similarly affected by Botticelli and the show will have clips from the 1962 Bond movie Dr No – where a calypso singing Ursula Andress walks from the sea in her white bikini, clasping a conch shell – and Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, where a naked Uma Thurman emerges serenely from a giant sea shell. Both of those scenes are riffs on Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus which the curators admitted they had no chance of getting on loan. The painting resides in the Uffizi, in Florence, andonly ever left when Mussolini forced it on a misguided charm offensive to Paris, London and New York. It would never leave again, said Evans.
Both of those scenes are riffs on Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus which the curators admitted they had no chance of getting on loan. It resides in the Uffizi in Florence and only ever left when Mussolini forced it on a misguided charm offensive to Paris, London and New York. It will never leave again, said Evans. Still, there will be 55 Botticelli works in a show with more than 150 works and objects in total. The exhibition is a collaboration with the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, where the show will open on 24 September.
Still, there will be 55 Botticelli works in a show with more than 150 works and objects in total.
The exhibition is a collaboration with the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, where the show will open on 24 September.
• Boticelli Reimagined runs at the V&A from 5 March to 3 July 2016.• Boticelli Reimagined runs at the V&A from 5 March to 3 July 2016.