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Bernardo Strozzi, 'A Personification of Fame', probably 1635-6

About the work

Overview

A young woman, dressed in a dazzling yellow skirt and red bodice, semi-reclines in a dark landscape setting, of which only some rocks and plants in the foreground are visible. Her wings and the trumpets she holds identify her as the allegorical figure of Fame. Normally Fame is shown with a single trumpet or two trumpets of different lengths, intended to symbolise good and bad fame, but here she holds a golden trumpet in one hand and a wooden instrument – a shawm (a forerunner of the oboe) – in the other.

The painting is a relatively late work by the Genoese painter Strozzi, who spent the last few years of his life in Venice. The bright colourful palette and virtuoso brushwork evident on the skirt and white shirt are typical of his technique.

No other paintings by Strozzi of this subject are known, and its elongated format suggests that it may have been intended as an overdoor.

Key facts

Details

Full title
A Personification of Fame
Artist dates
1581 - 1644
Date made
probably 1635-6
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
106.7 × 151.7 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1961
Inventory number
NG6321
Location
Room 32
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
17th-century Sicilian Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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