Renaissance Faces

The best thing about going to an exhibition is the element of surprise. Walking around, which painting or artefact will grab your attention? I find that often it's something entirely new to me, maybe even by an artist whose name has never impinged on my consciousness previously. Alongside the expected highlights of this exhibition - Pope Julius II, The Ambassadors - sits the delightful Portrait of Agatha van Schoonhoven by Jan van Scorel. This was clearly painted by a man who loved her. It's very simple, just a smiling woman looking out from under a white headdress, and couldn't be further from the elaborate court paintings done for Philip II elsewhere. It's easy to admire the richly decorated armour and expensive cloths in such portraits but you are always kept at a distance.
Other highlights include a fascinating oil skeptch by Beccafumi which looks like it belongs in the 19th century rather than the 16th with it's loose brushwork. Then there's Ghirlandaio's Old Man and his Grandson with the accompanying deathbed sketch of the man. The deformity of the old man's nose contrasts with the perfect features of the angelic child but what's important is the obvious affection between the two. It makes one smile. For entirely different reasons, so does Arcimboldo's portrait of Rudolph II, formed entirely from flowers, fruit and vegetables. Even today it looks startling amid all the attempts at naturalism, yet the more one looks at it, the more one can see the Emperor's facial features, so it's not out of place at all.