Domenico Ghirlandaio. art and design should never be frozen in time.

British Museum 新增了 2 張相片

Domenico Ghirlandaio died ‪#‎onthisday‬ in 1494, another artist from the Italian Renaissance http://ow.ly/H2CNZ

Discover more amazing works by Italian Renaissance artists in this catalogue British Museum Shop http://ow.ly/H3Seq

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Heads Up

Renaissance Portrait Inspires Gift Shop Goods

Paco Campos/EFE, via European Pressphoto Agency

“Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni” by Domenico Ghirlandaio, at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

By ANDREW FERREN

Published: September 2, 2010

A STUNNING Italian blonde — a real Renaissance beauty — has been turning heads in Madrid this summer, seemingly unperturbed by the heat despite the long sleeves and heavy layers of her richly brocaded dress.

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Her name is Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni and she died in 1488, but her portrait by the Renaissance master Domenico Ghirlandaio is the centerpiece of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum’s big summer exhibition “Ghirlandaio and Renaissance Florence,” on view through Oct. 10 (Paso del Prado 8; 34-91-369-0151; www.museothyssen.org; exhibition admission 7 euros, about $9 at $1.24 to the euro). The show places the museum’s beloved portrait, commissioned by Giovanna’s grieving husband after her death at 19 (while pregnant with their second child) in the context of other Renaissance paintings, drawings, prayer books and related works. The idea is to look at the aristocratic trappings of love, matrimony and religion in 15th-century Florence.
But in 21st-century Madrid, Giovanna’s eternal beauty and allure are not to be confined by museum walls, at least not if the Thyssen gift shop has anything to say about it. The museum has developed an extraordinary range of Giovanna-ware (ceramic dishes, vases and mugs) to Giovanna-wear (T-shirts, hair combs, jewelry) that give the Florentine noblewoman a common touch. She can be spotted promenading around the city — on the small vinyl bags (4.50 euros) and bright orange umbrellas (36 euros).
In the painting, Ghirlandaio portrays Giovanna in profile, elaborately coiffed and dressed and posed before a niche displaying a few well-chosen accouterments that indicate her faith and social position: a prayer book, a strand of coral beads and other precious jewelry. On the surface, it’s hardly a mother lode of merchandizing opportunities, but Ana Cela, director of the museum shop and publications, said that even a restrained masterpiece such as this can inspire clever product designs.
“Some museum shops are strictly limited to the basics: catalogs, a few prints and postcards. We have more leeway here, so I try to find a range of exclusive but interesting and useful products,” she said gesturing toward a display of bracelets, pendants and earrings made of natural horn carved in swirls and vine patterns (47.20 to 118 euros).
“I see these beautifully crafted accessories and I’m instantly ‘feeling Giovanna,’ ” she said noting that, while not replicas of objects in the painting, the pieces transmit “the same Renaissance aesthetic.”
Nearby, a small purse in deep burgundy hand-tooled leather (165 euros) also feels pretty “Giovanna.” But it turns out there is more to getting the right mix than just a period feel.
Next to the carved horn items is an over-scaled medallion with Giovanna’s profile in laser-cut black plexiglass that reads far more 1970s that 1480s (50 euros). A range of jewelry inspired by the coral beads that appear in the painting combines beads made of red glass with black rubber and natural leather, materials that give the rings, necklaces and bracelets (12 to 62 euros) a distinctly modern edge.
“We often work with contemporary artists and artisans so the products should have a connection to the modern world as well,” Ms. Cela said, referring to the jewelry designer Paloma Canivet, who made the glass bead pieces. “Art and design should never be frozen in time.”
So take a good look around as you leave the galleries — for as little as 4.80 euros the adorable knit Giovanna finger puppet can keep you company on the flight back home.