Carlo Dolci - Selfportrait (drawing) in octogonal frame [1674]

Carlo Dolci -

Selfportrait (drawing) in octogonal frame [1674] -

Florence, Uffizi Gabinetto

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Instead of wearing the garb of a citizen, Dolci presents himself here in modest work clothes as a practising artist. The drawing is so elaborate that only in the depiction of the individual hairs do supposedly fine strokes emerge, while otherwise the impression of a certain graininess, which imitates the materiality of red chalk and charcoal, determines the surface effect. The glasses that Dolci wears in the drawing emphasise the sharpening of the eye in the process of painting: his own work is virtually scrutinised. The bundle of brushes, which consists of four different fine hair brushes, fans out on the left-hand edge of the picture. In his right hand, Dolci holds a brush that is overlapped by the edge of the drawing. The quill shaft alone indicates that it must be a fine hair brush. While the fictitious drawing, which shows him at work, functions as a depiction, the dominant representative image, in which the artist withdraws as a creator, creates presence through the evocative power of colour. The white collar harbours a rich spectrum of chromatic refractions. In its simplicity and solidity - fine creases at the neck emphasise the stiffness of the fabric (through strength) - it looks like a blank page and thus makes subtle reference to the cardboard.

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