1503 (ca.), Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), The Old Woman -- Gallerie dell'Accademia (Venice)
From the museum label: The painting is mentioned in the 1567-1569 Vendramin inventory as "the portrait of Giorgione's mother", and the scroll inscription reading "with time" lends itself to several interpretations: if read as an allusion to Time's destructive power causing physical deterioration, the portrait appears as an outstanding example of pictorial realism (reminiscent of Dürer's painterly language). If, conversely, the words are interpreted as a celebration of a season of emancipation from earthly pleasures and of spiritual elevation towards the love of God, the artwork becomes the representation of an existential condition.
1503 (ca.), Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), The Old Woman -- Gallerie dell'Accademia (Venice)
From the museum label: The painting is mentioned in the 1567-1569 Vendramin inventory as "the portrait of Giorgione's mother", and the scroll inscription reading "with time" lends itself to several interpretations: if read as an allusion to Time's destructive power causing physical deterioration, the portrait appears as an outstanding example of pictorial realism (reminiscent of Dürer's painterly language). If, conversely, the words are interpreted as a celebration of a season of emancipation from earthly pleasures and of spiritual elevation towards the love of God, the artwork becomes the representation of an existential condition.