Tronie
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | [[Image:The Bitter Potion.jpg|200px|thumb|right|''[[The Bitter Potion]]'' (c. 1635) by [[Adriaen Brouwer]]]] | ||
| + | [[Image:The Smoker by Joos van Craesbeeckjpg.jpg|200px|thumb|left|''[[The Smoker]]'' (ca. 1654 - 1662) by [[Joos van Craesbeeck]]]] | ||
| + | [[Image:Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) - The Girl With The Pearl Earring (1665).jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Girl with a Pearl Earring]]'' (ca. 1665, ''Het Meisje met de Parel'') by [[Johannes Vermeer]]]] | ||
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| - | '''''Portrait of a Young Woman''''' (also known as '''''Study of a Young Woman''''', or '''''Girl with a Veil''''') is a painting by the [[Dutch Golden Age painting|Dutch artist]] [[Johannes Vermeer]], completed between 1666 and 1667, and now in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York. | + | A '''tronie''' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]] for a "face") is a common type, or group of types, of works of [[Dutch Golden Age painting]] and [[Flemish Baroque painting]] that shows an exaggerated [[facial expression]] or a [[stock character]] in costume. In contemporary usage the term might cover any picture of an unidentified sitter, but in modern art-historical usage it is typically restricted to figures who do not seem to have been intended to be identifiable, so [[genre painting]] in a portrait format. Typically a painted head or bust only, if concentrating on the facial expression, but often half-length if an exotic costume featured, they might be based on studies from life or use the features of actual sitters. But the image would normally be sold on the art market without identification of the sitter, and would not have been commissioned and retained by the sitter as [[portrait]]s normally were. Similar unidentified figures treated as [[history painting]]s would normally be given a title from the classical world, for example the Rembrandt painting now known as ''Saskia as Flora''. |
| - | Because of its near-identical size and its proximity in tone and composition, it is often considered to be either a variant or pendant painting (counterpart) of the artist's better-known ''[[Girl with a Pearl Earring]]''. The subjects of both paintings wear pearl earrings, have scarves draped over their shoulders, and are shown in front of a plain black background. In addition, it is likely that the creation of both works involved the use of a [[camera obscura]]. | + | Several [[Rembrandt]] [[self-portrait]] [[etching]]s are tronies, as are paintings of himself, his son and his women. <!--<ref>This is true of modern art-historical terminology; however, historical usage is not so precise. Seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish inventories of paintings might use the term for any unidentified sitter.</ref>--> Three [[Vermeer]] paintings were described as "tronies" in the [[Dissius]] auction of [[1696]], perhaps including the ''[[Girl with a Pearl Earring]]'' and the Washington ''[[Girl with a flute]]''. [[Frans Hals]] also painted a number of tronies, which are now among his best-known works (see gallery). |
| - | ==Description== | + | The tronie is related to, and has some overlap with, the "portrait historié", a portrait of a real person '''as''' another, usually historical or [[mythological]], figure. [[Jan de Bray]] specialised in these, and many portraitists sometimes showed aristocratic ladies in particular as mythological figures. |
| - | The sitter is depicted as having a homely face, with a wide-spaced and flat face, small nose and thin lips. This apparent lack of [[idealised beauty]] has led to a general belief that this work was painted on commission, although it is possible that the model was the artist's daughter. The artist probably used a live model but, as with ''Girl with a Pearl Earring'' did not create the work as a portrait, but a [[tronie]], a Dutch word meaning "visage" or "expression", a type of Dutch 17th-century picture appreciated for its "unusual costumes, intriguing physiognomies, suggestion of personality, and demonstration of artistic skill". The picture encourages the viewer to be curious about the young woman's thoughts, feelings, or character, something typical in many of Vermeer's paintings. | + | |
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| - | ''Girl with a Pearl Earring'' and ''Portrait of a Young Woman'' are unusual for Vermeer in that they lack his usual rich background; instead the girls are framed by a background of deep black. This isolating effect seems to heighten their vulnerability and seeming desire to place trust in the viewer. In 1994, the art historian Edward Snow wrote that ''Portrait of a Young Woman'' conveys "the desire for beauty and perfection into a loving acceptance of what is flawed." | + | |
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| - | ==Provenance and exhibitions== | + | |
| - | The painting may have been owned by Pieter Claesz van Ruijven of Delft before 1674, then by his widow, Maria de Knuijt of Delft, until 1681; then their daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven, until 1682; her widow, Jacob Dissius, until 1695. The painting is thought to have been part of the Dissius sale of May 16, 1696 (No. 38, 39 or 40). It probably then belonged to Dr. Luchtmans, who sold it in Rotterdam as part of a sale from April 20-22, 1816 (No. 92). for 3 [[Dutch guilder]]s (about 30 grams of silver), even then a tiny amount. Prince Auguste Marie Raymond d'Arenberg, of Brussels, owned the painting by 1829, and it remained in his family, in Brussels and Schloss Meppen, from 1833 to the early 1950s. In 1959 (or 1955, according to another source), it was bought in a private sale from the [[House of Arenberg|Prince d'Arenberg]] by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman of New York for a sum estimated at around £400,000. In 1979, the Wrightsmans donated the picture to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in memory of French painter [[Théodore Rousseau]]. | + | |
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| - | The painting was exhibited at the Kuntsthistorische Ausstellung [[Düsseldorf]] in 1904; and in ''In het licht van Vermeer: Vijf eeuwen schilderkunst'' exhibition at the [[Mauritshuis]] in [[The Hague]] and at the [[Musée de l'Orangerie]], Paris (''Dans la lumière de Vermeer: Cinq siècles de peinture''), in 1966. | + | |
| + | [[Joos van Craesbeeck]]'s ''[[The Smoker]]'', similar to many paintings by [[Adriaen Brouwer]], is an example of a "tronie". | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[List of paintings by Johannes Vermeer]] | + | *[[Famous portraits]] |
| - | * [[Dutch Golden Age painting]] | + | *[[Physiognomy]] |
| - | + | *[[Genre painting]] | |
| + | *[[Joseph Ducreux]] - French 18th century portraitist whose less formal works use extreme expressions | ||
| + | *[[Franz Xaver Messerschmidt]] - Austrian sculptor best known for his extreme "character heads" | ||
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A tronie (Dutch for a "face") is a common type, or group of types, of works of Dutch Golden Age painting and Flemish Baroque painting that shows an exaggerated facial expression or a stock character in costume. In contemporary usage the term might cover any picture of an unidentified sitter, but in modern art-historical usage it is typically restricted to figures who do not seem to have been intended to be identifiable, so genre painting in a portrait format. Typically a painted head or bust only, if concentrating on the facial expression, but often half-length if an exotic costume featured, they might be based on studies from life or use the features of actual sitters. But the image would normally be sold on the art market without identification of the sitter, and would not have been commissioned and retained by the sitter as portraits normally were. Similar unidentified figures treated as history paintings would normally be given a title from the classical world, for example the Rembrandt painting now known as Saskia as Flora.
Several Rembrandt self-portrait etchings are tronies, as are paintings of himself, his son and his women. Three Vermeer paintings were described as "tronies" in the Dissius auction of 1696, perhaps including the Girl with a Pearl Earring and the Washington Girl with a flute. Frans Hals also painted a number of tronies, which are now among his best-known works (see gallery).
The tronie is related to, and has some overlap with, the "portrait historié", a portrait of a real person as another, usually historical or mythological, figure. Jan de Bray specialised in these, and many portraitists sometimes showed aristocratic ladies in particular as mythological figures.
Joos van Craesbeeck's The Smoker, similar to many paintings by Adriaen Brouwer, is an example of a "tronie".
See also
- Famous portraits
- Physiognomy
- Genre painting
- Joseph Ducreux - French 18th century portraitist whose less formal works use extreme expressions
- Franz Xaver Messerschmidt - Austrian sculptor best known for his extreme "character heads"
