Francesco de Mura / Self Portrait / about 1740

Francesco de Mura
Self Portrait
about 1740
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Creator Name: Mura, Francesco de
Creator Nationality: European; Southern European; Italian; Neopolitan
Creator Role: painter
Creator Dates/Places: 1696 - 1782
Gender: M
Creator Name-CRT: Francesco de Mura
Title: Self Portrait
View: front
Creation Start Date: 1730
Creation End Date: 1750
Creation Date: about 1740
Object Type: Paintings
Materials and Techniques: oil on canvas
Dimensions: H.51 x W.40 in.
AMICA Contributor: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number: 62.48
Credit Line: The John R. Van Derlip Fund
Rights: http://www.artsmia.org/restrictions.html
Context:

In making commissioned portraits, artists must satisfy their clients' demands. With self-portraits, however, they can freely choose how to show themselves.

Wearing an aristocrat's wig, embroidered waistcoat, lace-trimmed shirt, and velvet jacket, Francesco de Mura presents himself here as a man of elegance and means. Indeed, he reinforced the grandeur of his image by inventing an opulent setting with billowing drapery, a colossal colonnade, and a marble-topped gold table.

De Mura emphasized his intellect by showing himself with his drawing instruments. Traditionally, drawing symbolized the cerebral and inventive qualities of an artist's conceptions, as opposed to the messy manual work of applying pigment to canvas. On de Mura's portfolio lies a red chalk sketch of the goddess Minerva, protectress of the arts, and proof of his knowledge of classical literature. By these means, he wanted to establish his social status as an educated gentleman, far from the lowly guild craftsman or artisan.

Acquired in 1962 62.48

AMICA ID: MIA_.62.48
Component Measured: overall
Measurement Unit: in
AMICA Library Year: 1998
Media Metadata Rights: ?The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

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