Portraits of Serafina, Gaetanino and Ciccillo di Ottaiano 1815

Marquis Filippo Petrone rendered this group portrait of three children, sometime in the early 19th century, using silk and wool embroidery on canvas. At first glance, it looks like a straightforward painting, but get closer, and you'll see that it's all stitched. Think of the immense labor involved, and the effect that has on the final image. Petrone mimicked the soft gradations of paint through precise, directional stitches. The texture of the embroidery gives a tactile, almost dreamlike quality, a softness not usually associated with formal portraiture. Embroidery at this time was still associated with domestic work, rather than with fine art. By embracing the medium, Petrone was working at the intersection of these worlds, complicating conventional ideas of artistic value. In this light, the image subtly questions the social status of its subjects, who were of course members of the aristocracy. In the end, it is the labor-intensive process that makes this picture so compelling.