The
cartellino appears in
Italian Renaissance painting from the 15th century into the 16th century, and particularly in painting from
Venice and the
Veneto from the 1470s to the 1520s. One of the first
cartellini appears on the
Tarquinia Madonna by
Filippo Lippi, painted in 1437. Other early examples include
Andrea Mantegna's 1448 painting of
St Mark, and
Marco Zoppo's
Wimborne Madonna of c.1455. Later examples include
Carlo Crivelli's c.1480
Lenti Madonna,
Giovanni Bellini's 1501–1502
Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan and
Jacopo de' Barbari's 1504
Still-Life with Partridge and Gauntlets. The
cartellino fell out of fashion, as artists desired to be known directly from the virtuosic quality of their work, not as craftsmen with a workshop whose work was identified by their name on a label. By 1548, a character in
Paolo Pino's
Dialogo di pittura was describing the
cartellino as a laughable thing. However, there are several
cartellini in
Hans Holbein the Younger's
Portrait of Georg Giese from 1532, and
Francisco de Zurbarán included
cartellini in about a fifth of his autograph works, including his 1628 painting of
Saint Serapion. In her 2009 PhD thesis, Kandice Rawlings distinguishes the
cartellino from other written element including in a painting, such as depictions of inscriptions in stone or on wooden plaques, or writing in books held by subjects, or on streamers or
banderoles. Other contemporary terms that were used for the same device include
letterina,
cartucce, and
bolletta – that is, small letter,
cartouche, or label. Despite the similarity of the word, there is little evidence of any connection with the
cardellino (
goldfinch, a symbol of
Christ's Passion). Rawlings documents 412 Italian paintings with
cartellini, almost all religious subject or portraits. Early examples are connected with
Padua. About three quarters were painted by artists trained or active in Venice and the Veneto. About three quarters were painted between 1470 and 1530, with the largest number in the first decade of the 16th century. About four fifths contain the artist's signature. A third include a date, often alongside a signature. Rawlings identifies another 74 paintings from outside Italy that include
cartellini, principally from Germany, mainly
Albrecht Dürer in the early 16th century, England, mainly
Holbein in the mid-1500s, and Spain, mainly
El Greco in the late 16th and early 17th century,
Velázquez in the 1630s, and
Zurbarán as late as the 1660s. The
cartellino had a knowing revival in
Diego Rivera's 1915
Zapatista Landscape. Lippi Madonna di tarquinia.jpg|
Filippo Lippi,
Madonna of Tarquinia, 1437 Andrea Mantegna 087.jpg|
Andrea Mantegna,
St Mark, 1448 La Vierge et l'Enfant entourés de huit anges - Marco Zoppo - Musée du Louvre Peintures RF 1980 1.jpg|
Marco Zoppo,
Wimborne Madonna, c.1455 Madonna and Child MET DT1356.jpg|
Carlo Crivellia,
Lenti Madonna, c.1480 Giovanni Bellini, portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan.jpg|
Giovanni Bellini,
Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan, 1501-2 Jacopo de' Barbari 001.jpg|
Jacopo de' Barbari,
Still-Life with Partridge and Gauntlets, 1504 San Serapio, por Francisco de Zurbarán.jpg|
Francisco de Zurbarán,
Saint Serapion, 1628 Diego Rivera - Zapata-style Landscape - Google Art Project.jpg|
Diego Rivera,
Zapatista Landscape, 1915 ==See also==