Portret van Bartholomeo Platina 1549 - 1577

This is an undated portrait of Bartholomeo Platina, made by an anonymous artist using an engraving technique. Platina was a humanist writer and Vatican librarian, but this image invites us to think about the politics of portraiture in the Renaissance. The visual codes are formal: we see the sitter in profile, framed by decorative motifs. This framing elevates the status of the sitter, but it also reminds us that portraiture is an act of institutional power, a way of conferring status. As such, the image also speaks to the class and gender structures of its time. By commissioning or owning portraits, patrons could shape their public image and reinforce social hierarchies. To understand this image better, we can ask: who commissioned this portrait, and why? Was it a public or private commission? What was Platina’s relationship with the artist? An art historian might explore these questions by consulting archival records, letters, and other primary sources, and through such investigations we can better understand the social conditions that shaped this portrait.