GARMENT TWO: inspired by 'Portrait of a Lady in yellow' by Alesso Baldovinetti

The following account describes the process involved in creating my second garment design and the reasons behind my choice of subject.  Again, I have attempted to use colours which relate to the Renaissance period and this work contains some of the pigments used by the Baldovinetti - Naples Yellow, Burnt Umber. The female portrait is instantly recognisable and has been derived from ‘Portrait of a Lady in Yellow’ (1400’s) by Alesso Baldovinetti. 
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/alesso-baldovinetti
As with my previous portraits the face has been converted to black and white with the addition of a halftone dot structure. The female face in profile has strong, elegant features reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelite style yet retaining regality.

The  ‘regal’ theme is referenced in the golden orange repeat pattern of tiny Elizabeth 1^st portraits for the main body – drawn from the painting ‘The Armada’ by George Gower. The halo is similar to the halo taken from ‘Madonna Rocks’ and like that halo; it contains fragments of my drawn nudes.

Yellow Lady’s baby has been sampled from the painting ‘Madonna and Child’ by Leonardo Da Vinci. This baby has been reduced to a faded 'suggestion' due to the use of a large halftone dot.

This intentional fading of the child is in direct response to the apparent detachment of the ‘mother’ figure and allows the focus to remain on the striking pattern of the woman’s body. The ‘pyramidal’ composition used in many Renaissance paintings is not obviously reflected here. However, the Yellow Lady in profile is looking to the side of the image contrasting with that of the child who is staring out at the viewer and with the viewer then looking in on the woman and the child.

The ‘Madonna’ is orange with a black contrasting halo. Orange, in Renaissance painting supposedly represents indulgence, carnal desires, original sin and corruption; whereas the textured background is delicate and faded - like the tonal surface of the baby image.

The strength of the orange tones in this design are mirrored in my silkscreen print. The addition of an opalescent layer of irodin royal gold pigment for sections of the halo and distended abdomen of the woman add a lustre to the print.

Once again, the front of the garment had the face as the central focus.(as with Garment One) . The back of the garment is a close up section of the black and orange halo. (See ‘Madonna’ blog entry)