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| Andrea Mantegna, The Meeting Camera degli Sposi, the Ducal Palace, Mantua,1471-74 |
"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."The last week of August and the first in September, the American political world was on stage and the Republican and Democrats were merely the players. While I am the least political person, I do make exceptions for big events such as these. Besides, my brother, Cenk was hosting the coverage of both the conventions on Current TV so we had no choice but to watch the full four hours even if it was just out of family loyalty. While I gave only half my attention to most of the speeches, I listened with apt attention when Ann Romney at the Republican and Michelle Obama at the Democratic Convention took the stage. These ladies were on a mission to paint a more human, personal picture of their husbands for the delegates and the American public as compassionate, loving individuals. They were taking their part in creating their husband's public image. Even I was impressed with Michele Obama's amazing speech (Link) and I couldn't help but compare the image of the powerful (in every sense of the word) First Lady with those of others from the past.
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| Andrea Mantegna, The Court of Mantua, Camera degli Sposi, the Ducal Palace, Mantua,1471-74 (Ludovico II Gonzaga with his wife Barbara von Brandenburg) |
At this time, I was working on my book review (Link) for 3PP on the exhibition catalog for The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini, an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which contained portrayals of some of the most prominent individuals from fifteenth-century Renaissance. In contrast to the image both the first lady and Mrs. Romney portrayed of their husbands as being 'regular guys', who could understand the American people, magnificence was the attribute that was largely cultivated during the Renaissance. Especially the highly idealized female portrait with elaborate costumes and costly jewels was a greatly utilized tool to promote the persona and the status of their husbands. While the rights and role of women is still being manipulated in our present day political arena, I thought we might take a look at some other consorts as well as leaders from fifteenth-century Renaissance to see what kind of an image they cultivated to further their cause.