Scraps of paper everywhere!

I have been rather lazy this summer, enjoying the experience of shutting off my mind and computer. Recently, however, I have been feeling the tingling of excitement to get thinking again so have been taking on little tasks, short lectures at museum and so forth. Nevertheless, I am still neglecting the regular tidying that I tend to do in my tiny studio, so find myself awash in papers, magazines, and other paper detritus that require sorting.

On this note, I introduce the word cartello. A cartello refers to a scrap of paper painted into a painting. The example in drawing is by Raphael and is a silly little sketch.

The next, more formal, example is by Giovanni Bellini whose mastery of oil painting (introduced to Venice in the second half of the 15th century) influenced the work of his great students, Giorgione and Titian both of whom worked in his workshop. When his brother Gentile Bellini died, Giovanni Bellini became the most successful artist in Venice and had trouble keeping up with his many commissions–although I find this is generally true of artists no matter the quantity of work. This portrait shows Leonardo Loredan appointed as Doge, a position he held for nearly 20 years as the position was a lifetime post though generally given to an elder in the expectation that they would not remain in the post for too long as the other world would call. Many of his portraits were destroyed in a fire but this one, from 1502, remains and it is truly masterful.