Art

An Analysis of Gender in Two Portraits
When thinking of the Renaissance, one would immediately perceive of major economic, political, and social transformations that produced ideological changes that shifted the whole perspective of the world. And at the very epicentre of this transformation is fifteenth-century Italy, the then international hub of active mercantilism and modern thinking. According to eminent Renaissance scholar Jacob Burckhardt, whose iconic book The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy (1890) has paved the way to further analysis of the Italian Renaissance, there has been a great deal of influence from Classical Greek culture found in the tenets of the Renaissance in the fourteenth to fifteenth century (1890 176). But all these critical advances, many modern feminists think, only revolve within the realm of men. As Joan Kelly-Gadol asks in her essay (1977), did women have a Renaissance Consequently we ask, then, how is gender generally represented during this important era in our history.

To gain some insight into this we look into the two diptych portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and his young wife Battista Sforza, considered the epitomes of their genders ideals, as rendered by famous Italian painter and mathematician Piero della Francesca. Despite a non-traditional approach in depicting the male and female relations in the paintings, the works are still manifestations of the gender ideals set and followed by the Italian Renaissance society. The portraits, seen as the Triumph of Federico or the Male Ego and the Triumph of Chastity (Branciforte 1986 3), present what Renaissance society believe as the ultimate achievement of each gender. In this paper, we shall analyse how this is depicted in the paintings and, therefore gain understanding into the dynamics of gender during the Renaissance.

Gender in Portraiture An Analysis
Before we delve into the analysis of the della Francesca portraits, we must first understand the importance of portraiture in Renaissance society and how it is a perfect medium to comprehend the dualistic quality of the gender relations in these times. It was during this period that naturalistic portraiture found its rebirth after a partial hiatus during the medieval. Unlike in previous eras, Renaissance portraiture aimed to achieve a physiognomic depiction of the identity of the living or once living person (Woodall 19971). Portraits should be seen, not simply as accurate depictions of the subject, but as allegories of the person (Berger 1994 90). Harry Berger, Jr., in his essay Fictions of the Pose Facing the Gaze of Early Modern Portraiture, says that portraits only pretend to portray and are in fact symbols of what their sitters represent their status, achievements, moral principles. The sitter is construed as the passive site of revelation, perhaps unaware that the painter is extracting the true nature from the appearance...This makes the portrait an epitome of the sitters character as it was generally manifested in the life reflected from the archive (1995 89). The painter, as the general eye of the public, then portrays these ideal qualities through his observation of the subjects (Berger 1994 85).

Berger suggests that we analyse these allegorical qualities following these four strands of commentary
 a) on the sitters social, political, andor professional status, and on his or her character, personality, inner being, moral quality, and state of mind (mood and emotion, gli affetti)
b) on the painters characterization and the means by which he produces it
c) on the sitters pose and appearance as the medium of characterization
d) on the archival data that provided the information used to confirm or fill out interpretations of a), b), and c)--historical information (or speculation) about the lives, behaviour, and practices of sitters and painters. (1994 87-89)

With these in mind and our archival understanding of Renaissance history, we can conclude that with the Renaissance pursuit for the ideal placed at a high regard, these portraits can be seen as templates that are supposedly looked up and followed by the immediate society.

In this sense, Renaissance portraiture can be seen as the symbolical representation of the gender dynamics found during that era. Every colour from the painter and every pose from the subject or the sitter are descriptive of what society perceives of them which is why there is a clear illustration of the dynamics of gender in portraits. Women were shown either as highly decorated, a semblance of the court ladies whose personification is associated to that of their husbands, or as pure, innocent virgins, on the throes of a proper marriage. Some are also portrayed in sombre clothing, showing womens inherent position within the household. As Kelly-Gold mentions, these distinctions present the inferior domestic realm from which women come from, as compared to the senior public realm dominated by men, an image that shows the domestic imprisonment of women of that era (1977 141). Chastity, docility, and obedience characterize this domestic realm, while political and military power portrayed the public realm of men.

Nowhere is this dichotomy of standards more evident that in the portraits of Federico and Battista. Commissioned in the 1470s when Federico was in his fifties, it can be regarded as his tribute to his wife after her most unexpected death, months after the birth of their only son. The portrait, ideally placed side by side, depicts the husband and wife facing each other, their faces a mask of serenity, holding a stoic gaze amidst a background of blue skies, green mountains, and a quaint lakeside community. Unlike other portraits, these show the subjects magically suspended above the lands, as if in dominance of them.

Federico is depicted as a stocky man, with rugged, dark skin marked by warts. Despite this worn appearance, della Francescos depiction of the Duke of Urbino was already improved as compared to other paintings by Flemish painters. He did not erase the distinguishing qualities of the mans face to stay true to his natural appearance but he smoothened out the lines and drooping skin that is evident in other portraits of Federico. Thinking along the lines of Federicos vast military and political achievements, he depicted the Duke in such a way that it symbolized his outstanding reputation. With his figure above that of the rural background (a depiction, perhaps, of the dukedom of Urbino) illustrates his looming power over the land. Unlike homely interpretations of his face, this in particular, emanates with sincerity and judiciousness felt from the eyes to the relaxed mouth, portraying none of the aggressiveness that is historically attributed to him. The right side of his face is also unconventionally hidden by depicting him in a profile, a pose usually attributed to women, in order to hide a battle scar and blinded eye that he had incurred during one of his military exploits. And despite permitting the extraction of his upper nose bridge to allow for better vision through is left eye, della Francesco still showed the rest of his aquiline nose as a clear indication of his patrician lineage. And in a time when Greek qualities are highly regarded, this particular quality only pushes forward Federicos reputation as the ideal Renaissance man. In essence, his portrait shows his Triumph as this idealized Renaissance figure, founded upon his successes as a most sought-after condotierri or hired general and a distinguished scholar of the arts.

His wife, at the same time, is the portrayal of the idyllic Renaissance woman. Prim and proper, she does not overwhelm the presence of her husband. Remarkably younger than her Federico, Battista was married to him at the age of thirteen, and this youth and innocence obviously translates into the picture. With her alabaster skin and smooth, lineless face, her look is a stark contrast to that of her husbands rough persona and only furthers how Renaissance society perceives its wives bastions of beauty, purity, and innocence kept in secrecy versus the sturdiness and worn characteristic of the men. In the painting she is presented as the epitome of the young, obedient wife. She is a clean slate that he husband can transform into the ideal wife. According to Simons, women are perceived as inconstant, like irrational animals without any set proportion, living without order or measure, women are transformed by their beauty of mind and dowry of virtue into ordered, constant geometrically proportioned and unchangeable images, bearers of an inheritance which would be precious to their children. A woman, who was supposedly vain and narcissistic was nevertheless made an object in a framed mirror when a mans worldly wealth and her ideal dowry, rather than her true or real nature is displayed (Simons 1988 44).  Wearing the latest fashions and expensively decorated, she is a representation of her husbands stature and household. She does not have an identity or a significance of her own, apart from those that is bestowed upon her by the dominantly male society. In the words of Patricia Simons, a woman is an adorned Other who was defined into existence when she entered patriarchal discourse primarily as an object of exchange (Simons 1988 42).

It is also important to note that since this painting was created after her death, only her idealized persona exists to be copied and therefore raises her character, and henceforth the character of the Renaissance women into mythical heights. She becomes, almost, an immortalized embodiment of the Renaissance ideal. She also completely becomes subjected to the perceptions of the men surrounding the creation of the portrait, her husband and the painter, having no say, whatsoever, in how she should be depicted.

Now, we look into the social, political, and professional status of the individuals portrayed. Based on the clothing worn by the subjects, it is quite obvious from which social strata they come from. Both individuals are wearing the conventional garb worn by Italian upper-class, albeit a little more modest. Particularly noticeable is the disparity in colours between the two subjects. Federico is portrayed wearing a deep red that bursts out of the canvass in its vividness. Battista, on the other hand, is dressed in sombre black, almost reminiscent of her funeral dress despite the smattering of pearls and brocade. On one hand this can be attributed to the relationship between a womans clothing and the mans social stature. According to Patricia Simons in her article Women in Frames The Gaze, the Eye, the Profile in Renaissance Portraiture (1988) the clothing is a metaphorical mode for social distinction and regulation. The emblematic significance of dress made possible the visible marking out of ones parental and marital identity (1988 42). In this sense, Battistas costume does not pertain to her personally but rather to her husbands social stature and reputation, where her identity, unfortunately, lies. Seen, particularly, in the works of novelists Bocaccio and Ariosto, we see chastity as the established female norm and as an assertion of the females dependence on the man and her acceptance of male domination (Kelly-Gadol 1977 140).

The difference in colours also relates to the question of dominance among the two portraits. Placed side by side, it is evident that Federicos portrait is the more prominent of the two signifying his more domineering stature over Battista. With her pale skin and dark, earthy tones, Battista is observably subdued and drowned by the brightness of Battistas red clothing. Unless the portrait depicts the woman during her marriage, she is otherwise subdued and almost invisible to the public eye (1988 42). She lies behind the shadows of the patriarch, whether it is her husband or her father.

Another notable characteristic of these portraits in comparison to traditional diptychs of men and women is the positioning of the subjects. As previously mentioned, Federico had incurred a battle wound that left the right side of his face mangled and unattractive. To hide this, paintings of him by other artists usually portrayed the Duke in profile, with only the left side of his face showing. With this we lose the concept of the gaze as typically attributed to the male figure in the portrait. Men are usually shown looking directly at the woman, as if drawing her entirety into his gaze. Women, on the other hand, are pictured with downcast eyes or averted looks, avoiding eye contact with her male counterpart. By doing so, she loses her ability to assert herself or her identity in the midst of the man. Also, she cannot hold him in her gaze because she is no position to place him under her judgement. At the same time this position is restrictive and places the woman in a static posture that doesnt allow much presentation of action. This sense of being closed-off revert us back to our understanding of the females role within the private realm such that she cannot even make eye contact with the rest of the world. As Simons quotes Bocaccio in her essay, to be a woman in the world wasis to be subject to the male gaze to appear in public is to be looked upon. The gaze, then a metaphor for worldliness and virility, made of Renaissance woman an object of public discourse exposed to scrutiny and framed by parameters of propriety, display, and impression management (Simons 1988 41.

In this special case we see Federico and Battista face to face with both eyes on each others faces. It may be viewed as a rare depiction of equality, but taking into consideration Federicos misshapen right side, it can only be seen as the best compromise to the creation of the portraits. To compensate for this, as we have discussed, the male figure is swathed in strong colours while the female figure is shown in subdued, almost dismal, appropriation.

But, overall, this diptych has been read as the depiction as the Triumph of Federico and his wifes Triumph of Chastity. Seemingly lording over the sky, the portraits depict the two leagues above the trials and tribulations of the earth and can be read as their ascension towards an almost mythical ideal his portrays his military and political achievements and his wifes triumph of feminine virtues. Both ruler and woman are typecast and stand for more than their individual selves (1988 46).

Conclusion
Looking at these portraits now, we realize that despite its supposedly accurate illustration of the subject, many different factors still affect the final outcome of the product. Most of the time, the persons are shown not as themselves but as idealized caricatures. They may be displayed as magically high above the clouds, as Federico and Battista were shown, to emphasize their superiority over the common man in terms of Renaissance ideals, but it does not erase the fact that these had once been people who wanted to immortalize themselves as they saw it fit. And in this case, they had wanted for the rest of the world to see them as the perfect examples of the specific sexes one depicting male virility and strength as one depicting female chastity. And, through this careful analysis we are able to discover how these Renaissance men and women go on with their daily lives as they attempt to reach that ideal.