Portrait of Faustina Bordoni 1738 - 1740

Count Ludovico Mazzanti painted this portrait of Faustina Bordoni using oil on canvas. These were the quintessential materials of European art. The fine weave of the canvas, the slow drying time of the oil paint: these allowed for exacting realism, and subtle effects of light and shadow. But what does it mean to see these materials, so associated with aristocratic patronage, being used to depict a performer? Faustina Bordoni was a Venetian opera singer. During the 18th century, opera was a highly commercialized form of entertainment. Singers like Bordoni were some of its biggest stars, earning huge sums. Mazzanti has taken pains to represent her elegance, but has also captured her gaze, which is direct and self-possessed. Here, oil paint serves less as an instrument of ennoblement, and more as a register of modern celebrity. It invites us to consider the place of talent within a rapidly changing economy.