Portret van monnik Giovanni Benedetto Mittarelli 1813 - 1818

Curator: This pencil drawing, created between 1813 and 1818, is titled "Portret van monnik Giovanni Benedetto Mittarelli" – a portrait of the monk Giovanni Benedetto Mittarelli. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by its stark simplicity and subdued elegance. The delicate lines, the limited tonal range... it evokes a real sense of austerity. Curator: It's very much in keeping with Neoclassical aesthetics, which favoured clarity, order, and a certain restrained emotionality. You can really see the academic approach. Editor: Indeed, there’s something undeniably proper about it, a conscious display of social identity. The sitter's clothing signals membership within the clergy, in keeping with visual markers designating status. Curator: Look closely at how the artist, Benedetto Musitelli, has used the pencil to sculpt the light across Mittarelli's face. The shading around the eyes and mouth gives the portrait an undeniable depth. Editor: Absolutely, the precision is compelling. This almost hyper-realistic rendering—conveyed with the unforgiving precision that pencil allows—demands a form of engagement from us beyond simple appreciation; we're invited into considering identity. Curator: Right, and that realism ties into broader shifts happening at that time with portraying individuals and the purpose of a portrait. What do we gain by remembering this figure, at this time? Editor: It raises questions, doesn’t it? Is it pure documentation? Propaganda? Or is the artwork speaking more broadly, through this man, of Neoclassical art at this time? What do we remember, how do we depict. Curator: All relevant questions that viewers can perhaps begin to consider for themselves... Editor: Yes. Perhaps this encourages everyone to think what power sits behind every choice, no matter how straightforward.