Allegory of Fortune

04/24/21 • 12 min

Isabella d'Este knew a thing or two about bad luck. A philandering husband who was out of town most of the time, the loss of three children, and oh yeah, running the government of Mantua while protecting it from invading armies while hubby was away! But she also knew Fortune can swing both ways. Our next stop is the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, CA where we find out why this majorly influential Renaissance Woman may have been the one to hire Dosso Dossi to paint this mysterious scene.

SHOW NOTES “A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is “Suite in F Major” composed by Michael Praetorius. Performed by Michel Rondeau. Courtesy of musopen.org https://musopen.org/music/43633-suite-in-f-major/

Artwork information https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/822/dosso-dossi-giovanni-di-niccolo-de-lutero-allegory-of-fortune-italian-about-1530/

A Recovered ‘Fortune’ : Renaissance Work Cost $1,000, Sold for $4 Million https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-29-ca-849-story.html

Dosso Dossi info https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/1007/dosso-dossi-giovanni-di-niccolo-de-lutero-italian-ferrarese-about-1490-1542/

Dosso Dossi: Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara (PDF) http://resources.metmuseum.org/resources/metpublications/pdf/

Isabella info

https://isabelladeste.web.unc.edu/profile-of-isabella-deste/

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/isabella_d_este https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_d%27Este

“Fickle Fortune: Pinning Down Fortune in 16th Century Italy” by Megan Haddad (2019) Aleph, UCLA Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 16. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9kw3v8st

Frank Sinatra singing Luck Be a Lady Tonight https://youtu.be/X69P_Vce9vw

SHOW NOTES “A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is “Suite in F Major” composed by Michael Praetorius. Performed by Michel Rondeau. Courtesy of musopen.org https://musopen.org/music/43633-suite-in-f-major/

Artwork information https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/822/dosso-dossi-giovanni-di-niccolo-de-lutero-allegory-of-fortune-italian-about-1530/

A Recovered ‘Fortune’ : Renaissance Work Cost $1,000, Sold for $4 Million https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-29-ca-849-story.html

Dosso Dossi info https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/1007/dosso-dossi-giovanni-di-niccolo-de-lutero-italian-ferrarese-about-1490-1542/

Dosso Dossi: Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara (PDF) http://resources.metmuseum.org/resources/metpublications/pdf/

Isabella info

https://isabelladeste.web.unc.edu/profile-of-isabella-deste/

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/isabella_d_este https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_d%27Este

Frank Sinatra singing Luck Be a Lady Tonight https://youtu.be/X69P_Vce9vw

Previous Episode

The Great Wave

In today’s episode, we travel to the Art Institute of Chicago for a long look at this iconic print by Japanese artist, Hokusai.

You might remember from the Van Gogh episode that when French artists discovered colorful Japanese woodblock prints like this, it started the enormously popular Japonisme trend and eventually led to Impressionism.

But influence went both ways. In today’s episode, we’ll find out how a lab accident in Berlin led to Hokusai showcasing this vivid Prussian blue 130 years later.

Please visit https://alonglookpodcast.com

SHOW NOTES “A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is “La Mer - 3 - Dialogue du vent et de la mer” composed by Claude Debussy. Performed by the US Air Force Band https://musopen.org/music/14381-la-mer/#recordings Courtesy of musopen.org

Artwork information

https://www.artic.edu/articles/743/seeing-triple-the-great-wave-by-hokusai

Hokusai bio https://www.artic.edu/artists/31492/katsushika-hokusai

Ukiyo-e printing info

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=263hot9G8NA

https://risingsunprints.com/blogs/introduction-to-ukiyo-e/explained-the-traditional-process-of-japanese-woodblock-printing

Prussian blue story

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-21/prussian-blue-hokusai-great-wave-how-a-pigment-changed-the-world/8731732

Post comments or questions at alonglookpodcast.com

Next Episode

Grainstack: Sun in the Mist

Today’s episode takes us to the Minneapolis Institute of Art for a long look at Claude Monet.

We’ll find out how the morning light on a neighbor’s haystacks inspired one of his most famous painting series and the hectic practice he developed to paint them!

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is “Sonatine - I. Modéré” by Maurice Ravel. Performed by Markus Staab. Courtesy of musopen.org https://musopen.org/music/4724-sonatine/

Haystacks (Monet series) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haystacks_(Monet_series)

Artwork information https://collections.artsmia.org/art/10436/grainstack-claude-monet

Monet info Perry, Lilla Cabot. "Reminiscences Of Claude Monet From 1889 To 1909." The American Magazine of Art 18, no. 3 (1927): 119-26. Accessed May 12, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23931183.

Exploring Late Monet with Art Historian Kathryn Calley Galitz, Pac Pobric, Editor, Digital Department, 2018 https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/collection-insights/2018/monet-conversation