SOURCE: Notes in the History of Art, 22, 2 (2003) © Norman E. Land Xlltra (ar13) VERONICA FRANCO. TINTORETTO. AND NARCISSUS Norman E. Land At the beginningof the secondbook of his treatise on painting, De Pictura (1435), Leon BattistaAlberti refersto Narcissusas "the first painter."For Alberti, Narcissus was a painter becausehe "depicted" his image on the surfaceof the pool of water into which he gazed.AlthoughAlberti does not say as much, he impliesthat Narcissus was also a viewer or spectatorof his own creation. Other writers-namely, Antonio Averlino called Il Filarete, and Paolo Pino-also allude to the mythologicalfigure as an artistbut do not presentNarcissus specificallyin the imageof a viewer.'There is, however,at leastoneauthor,theVenetian poet and courtesanVeronicaFranco,who, in a publishedletter addressedto Jacopo Tintoretto, apparentlysaw the implication of Alberti's image.2 In her letter, Franco first laments the opinion that ancienttimes were better than her own day, that naturefavoredthe men of antiquitybut not thoseof sixteenth-century Venice.Somepeopleclaim, she says,that thereare no contemporaryartistsas excellent as those of antiquity such as the paintersApelles and Zeuxis,and the sculptors Praxitelesand Phidias. On the other hand,sheadds,thereare thosewho say that Michelangelo,Raphael,Titian, and Tinthe ancients. torettosurpass Accordingto Franco,Tintoretto,who is oblivious to praise,pays no attentionto otherpeople'sopinionsabouthim, goodor bad.Rather,shecontinues,he concentrates on his painting,which is an art of imitating nature.FrancotellsTintorettothathe excels at imitatingnot only the humanbody,but, most impressively,human emotions.Indeed,the great ancientRoman actor Roscius was probablynot as able to expressas manyemotionson stageasTintorettois able to paint in his marvelouspictures. Here Francosignalsher awareness of the dramatqualities of many of Tintoic and theatrical retto'spaintings.His figuresarelike players on a stage,expressingmany differentemotions, and he, by implication,is like the directorof a play,who drawsforth a variety from his actors. of expressions Then Francoturnsto Tintoretto'sportrait of her, which is often associatedwith a painting in the WorcesterArt Museum in (Fig. 1).rShesaysthatwhen Massachusetts she first viewed the portrait,she could not be certainwhetherit was a paintingby Tintorettoor a diabolicaldeception-"diabolico inganps"-gleated by the devil, not to causeher to fall in love with herself,asNarcissusdid with himself,but for someother. unknownreason.ThankGod, sheexclaims, shedoesnot considerherselfso lovely that shewould fall in love with her own image. In short,she knows herselfand is not like Narcissus,who lovedhis own beauty. Nature,FrancowarnsTintoretto,is aware of his divinamano,or "divine hand,"andof the lossshesuffersas a resultof it, and will not grant to connoisseursof art enough intelligenceto explainthe artist'sachieve- Follower of JacopoTintoretto,Portraitof a Lady (VeronicaFranco?).1588?Oil on canFig. 1 vas,61.5 x 47.2 cm. WorcesterArtMuseum,Austin S. and SarahC. GarverFund, Worcester, Massachusetts 27 ments.At last, having accountedfor her inability to praiseTintoretto'sportrait adequately,Francorestsher pen and asksGod to blessthe painter. Franco seems to have been conversant with the intentionsof artistsas imitatorsof life. She refers specificallyto Tintoretto's ability to imitate"clothedand nudefigures, giving them colors, shadows,profiles,the details of the muscles,movements,acts, posture,drapery and dispositions" ffigure nude,o vestite,dandolecolori, ombre,profth, fattazzemuscoli, movimenti,atti, positure,pieghe,& dispositionil,as if sheknew that figure painting was generallyconsidered the highest form of the art. Much of Franco'sletter,however,is filled with conventionalpraise and echoesthe works of otherauthors.For example,her referenceto the deceptionof Tintoretto'spaintingfinds a parallel in a poem by BaldassareCastiglionein which the authorunderscores the deceptivenatureof a portraitof himselfby Raphael(Louvre,Paris).Likewise,Taddeo Zuccarospeaksof an untraceableportraitof CharlesV by Titian, a likenessthat duped the emperor'sson, Philip II, who spoketo it.oStill, Franco'suse of the trope is novel becausein calling attentionto the liveliness of Tintoretto'sportrait,she comparesherself with Narcissusas viewer. Narcissusimmodestly fell in love with his own beautiful image.' According to Ovid (M etamorphoses3.407-51 0), Narcissuswasfooledby the representation of himself on the surfaceof the pool of water into which he looked.Enthralledby the beauty of his own image, he eventuallydied of a kind of spiritualor psychologicalparalysis. When Franco seesTintoretto's portrait of her,sherecallsNarcissusbut avoidshis fate. The artist has painted a lifelike image of her;but sincesheis not beautiful,sheavoids falling for what seemsat first to be a diabolical deception.Had she been beautiful or had sheonly believedthatshewas a beauty, she might have succumbed to her own image. Franco,while praisingthe lifelike quality of Tintoretto'sportrait,voicesthe belief that visualdeceptionis a devilishtrick and says thatfor a while shedid not know why a diabolicalillusionwas setbeforeher.Still, she seemsto respondto her confusionwhenshe implies that the admirationof one's own likenessinvolvesnarcissisticpride (superbia) and vanity, which at that time were consideredsins. Her image was a temptation thatcouldhaveled to her downfall,but her modestyand prudencesavedher. Here Francoseemsto be recallingimagesof Prudence, who was often portrayed looking into a mirror, a sign of self-knowledge .oIndeed, gazing at Tintoretto's portrait as a painting that mirrored her likeness,F'ranco seemsto be the very imageof Prudence.As a devilishdeception,her imagewas a temptation,but Tintoretto'sportraitboth literally and figurativelyshowedFrancoto herself. Still, Franco,who understoodthe waysof love and sex, surely knew that desireand deceptionare mysteriouslyat the heart of our experienceof art, just as the story of Narcissusreveals. NOTES l. See Norman E. Land, "Narcissus Pictor," SOURCE:Notesin the History of Art 16,no. 2 (Winter 1997):10-15.See also Paul Barolsky,'A Very Brief History of Art from Narcissusto Picasso,"C/assical Journal 90, no. 3 (1995):255-259. For an extendeddiscussionof Alberti's comment on the 28 myth of Narcissus,see GiuseppeBarbieri, L'lnventore della pittura: Leon Battista Alberti e il mito di Narcisco (Vicenza:Terra Ferma, 2000). 2. The letter is in VeronicaFranco,LettereFamiliari a diversl (Venice:1580),pp. 38-39. For a translation of the letter, see Veronica Franco, Poemsand SelectedLetters, ed. and trans.Ann Rosalind Jones and Margaret F. Rosenthal (Chicago and London: Universityof ChicagoPress,1998),pp. 35-37. See also Margaret F. Rosenthal, The Honest Courtesan: Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in SixteenthCentury Venice(Chicagoand London: University of ChicagoPress,1992),p.248, for an abridgedversion of the letter.The letter has been interpretedby Ann RosalindJones,The Currency of Eros: Women'sLove Lyric in Europe, 1540-1620 (Bloomington: Indiana UniversrtyPress,1990),pp. 183-l 84, who arguesthat Franco'spurposesin the letter to Tintoretto are "to guaranteethe truthfulnessof the paintingand to raise the possibility that other viewers might be less able than sheis to resistits invitation." 3. Georgina Masson, Courtesans of the ltalian Renaissance(New York: St. Martin's Press,1975),p. 156,refersto an engravedportraitofFranco. Seealso Rosenthal,pp. 346-347, n. 93. 4. For the relevantportion of Castiglione'spoem, seeVincenzo Golzio, Raffaello: nei Documenti,. . . (VaticanCity: 1936),p.43; andforZuccaro'stext,see Federigo Zuccaro, Idea de' pittori, scultori, et architetti(Torino: 1607),p. 28. 5. In oneof her poems,FrancoalludesIo the beauty of Narcissus.The figure in the poem embracesa garmentof her departedsoldier/lover,a garment"che gih foste avvolte / intorno a quella membra, che da Marte sembranoin forma da Narciso tolte." For the completetext of the poem and a translation,seeFranco, Poems,pp. 212-215. 6. See, for example,the personificationof Prudencein a print by the Masterof the E-seriesTarocchi, illustratedin JayA. Levinson,KonradOberhuber, and Jacquelyn Sheehan,Early ltalian Engravings from the National Gallery of Art (Washington,D.C.: 1973),p. 130, no. 48. For a brief discussionof the mirror in relation to Vanity, Pride, and Prudence, see Norman E, Land, "Parmigianinoas Narcissus," SOURCE:Notesin the History of Art 16,no. 4 (Summer 1997):29and30, n. 15 for further bibliography.