0Elena Morales

Art History 221

1 June. 2009
Giampietrino

U
Upon entering the Medieval to Renaissance area

of the art museum, St. Mary Magdalene by

Giampietrino caught my attention. Her haunting

eyes beckon you to come forth and view her eternal beauty and

to witness the miracle she is about to perform. As you gaze upon the portrait, you begin to

wonder what she, St. Mary Magdalene, is staring off at? Was this image of her captured just

before she anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment? Is she staring off into the distant, foreseeing the

tragic events that are about to take place? The 3/4 view of the woman’s soft, delicate features

with her flesh tones, barely tinged with pink1 , drew my eyes to the soft, gentle outlines of the

face. Being a pupil and follower of Leonardo da Vinci2 , Giampietrino’s art pieces are

reminiscent of the great master, with a facial type that is regarded as being typically

“Leonardoesque” - a technique called Sfumato, meaning smokey in Italian, which Leonardo

perfected. He also plays with light and shadow3 which cast over the figure to give it a lingering

persona and bringing a great amount of life into the portrait. You can almost see the blood

pulsing beneath her skin as she sits silently in the frame.

The overall composition of the portrait is pyramidal which can be seen by the solid

foundation built from the position of her arms up toward her face. In many of the Renaissance

art pieces , the triangle (or pyramid), among many other symbols, represent the divine nature of
1 1“His pale flesh tones barely tinged with pink.” Pietro C. Marani. "Rizzoli, Giovanni Pietro." In Grove Art
Online. Oxford Art Online, http://0-
www.oxfordartonline.com.oswald.clark.edu:80/subscriber/article/grove/art/T072340 (accessed June 1, 2009).

2 2“Gianpietrino was a pupil and follower of Leonardo’s.” Portland Art Museum Placard - Giampietrino - St. Mary
Magdalene.

3 3“The facial type is typically ‘Leonardoesque,’ as is the play of light and shadow over the feature.” Portland Art
Museum Placard - Giampietrino - St. Mary Magdalene.
God; each point of the triangle symbolizes the three arms of the cross - the Father, the Son and

the Holy Spirit.

The white jar seen in the portrait is the typical iconography that is associated with Mary

Magdalene, as she is usually said to be the unnamed woman who anointed Jesus’ feet at the

supper at the house of Simon4 . The heavy folds and luxurious gown is done in the current

fashion present during the Renaissance and the significance of this is that it brings the image of

the saint into the present; allowing those who view the portrait to believe that it is happening

now, that it is a continuous story that is repeated through out the ages and is in fact timeless.

Giampietrino is a Northern Italian Renaissance painter who was active in Milan from

about 1495 to 15495 , and is known by several names. The name that was found jotted down in

one of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks was that of “gian petro” 6 . Through out history he has

been referred to as: Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, Giovanni Pedrini, and among a slew of other titles 7 ,

but has been most referred to as Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, as it is mainly the only documented

name historians have been able to find8 . It has been said that Giampietrino worked in

Leonardo’s workshop toward the end of the 15th century, although no one is quite sure of the

dates for the lack of preserved evidence9 . What seemed to become a trademark signature of

4 4“Mary Magdalene is traditionally identified with the unnamed woman who anointed Jesus’ feet at the house of
Simon.” Portland Art Museum Placard - Giampietrino - St. Mary Magdalene.

5 5“1495 - 1549.” (http://www.virtualuffizi.com/biography/Giovanni-Pedrini-or-Gian-Pietro-Rizzi,-called-

Giampietrino.htm)

6 6He may be identifiable with the ‘gian petro’ jotted down in a list by Leonardo between 1497 and 1500. Pietro C.
Marani. "Rizzoli, Giovanni Pietro." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://0-
www.oxfordartonline.com.oswald.clark.edu:80/subscriber/article/grove/art/T072340 (accessed June 1, 2009).

7 7“An artist whose name has been confused throughout history, but has become known as either, Giovanni Pedrini,
Gian Pietro Rizzi, Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli or simply, Il Giampietrino.”
(http://www.virtualuffizi.com/biography/Giovanni-Pedrini-or-Gian-Pietro-Rizzi,-called-Giampietrino.htm)

8 8(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giampietrino)

9 9Pietro C. Marani. "Rizzoli, Giovanni Pietro." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://0-
www.oxfordartonline.com.oswald.clark.edu:80/subscriber/article/grove/art/T072340 (accessed June 1, 2009).
Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, evidence coming paintings that are “autographed” in such a way, is a

small white vase that may have been a holy, symbolic signature of himself.

Rizzoli produced many a large altarpieces, Madonnas, Holy women in half figures, and

mythological women10 . Many of his paintings were commissioned by private patrons: an

altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with Saints, commissioned for the church of S Marino, Pavia

in 1512; and a small series of portraits depicting Holy Women and Mythological Women: The

Virgin and Child, Mary Magdalene, Lucrezia, Cleopatra, Sophonisba and Diana.

His paintings were strongly influenced by that of Leonardo, which may suggest a close

relationship while working at his workshop, and the influence can be seen not only in the facial

type (which clearly reads Leonardo), but also in the intense, luminous colours of the draperies he

paints, which often contrast with dark backgrounds. Rizzoli’s art and technique, which made

headway in the early 17th century11 , while it stuck closely to that of Leonardo, he had his own

grace and touch12 that shown new light upon the art of painting. It was refined and precise,

dangling on the edge between religious asceticism and subtle but quite evident eroticism13 .

0 10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giampietrino)

1 11Pietro C. Marani. "Rizzoli, Giovanni Pietro." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://0-
www.oxfordartonline.com.oswald.clark.edu:80/subscriber/article/grove/art/T072340 (accessed June 1, 2009).

2 12(http://www.virtualuffizi.com/biography/Giovanni-Pedrini-or-Gian-Pietro-Rizzi,-called-Giampietrino.htm)

3 13Pietro C. Marani. "Rizzoli, Giovanni Pietro." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://0-
www.oxfordartonline.com.oswald.clark.edu:80/subscriber/article/grove/art/T072340 (accessed June 1, 2009).