"this miniature is one of the collection of copies of 224 self-portraits by artists in the uffizi palace, florence, that lord cowper, the art collector and patron, commissioned giuseppe macpherson (1726-1780) to paint. He presented the miniatures to king george iii in two batches, in 1773 and 1786. Macpherson followed the original self-portraits quite closely, but copied only the head and shoulders. He inscribed the artists' names on the backs of the miniatures – several differ from those in the modern uffizi catalogue, notably: bazzi, bellini, campi, annibale carracci, gabbiani, masaccio, metsys, moroni, pencz, licinio, schiavone and spada. None of the miniatures is signed, apart from macpherson's own self-portrait, which is inscribed: giuseppe macpherson / autore della serie (giuseppe macpherson / author of the series). Macpherson was born in florence, the son of donald macpherson, a footman in the service of alexander, 2nd duke of gordon. He was a pupil of pompeo batoni and painted miniatures and enamel portraits in italy, france and germany, finally settling in florence. A james macpherson is recorded in london and paris in 1754 but it is not certain that this is the same person. He was described in 1776 as having a special talent for painting on enamel and as being 'almost the only painter in europe who possesses this art to perfection'. He had a distinguished client list which included some of the crowned heads and dignitaries of europe. In 1778, he was invited to add his own self-portrait to the famous painters in the grand duke's collection as it 'would do honour to florence to enrich the collection with a work which shows that we still have some men of true merit' according to giuseppe pelli, director of the uffizi at the time. ". Date: between 1772 and 1780 after a work of 1590s. Dimensions: height: 7 cm (2.7 in); width: 5.7 cm (2.2 in). Medium: miniature on ivory. Collection: Royal Collection. Giovanni Battista Paggi, by Giuseppe Macpherson
Loading...
