Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie (5.1964)

Bożena Steinborn

THE PORTRAIT OF MICHELANGELO IN THE SILESIAN MUSEUM

The copy of Michelangelo's portrait iii the Silesian Museum in Wrocław1 (fig. 1) was ma-
dę between 1570—1576 and belonged to a group of sixty portraits in the so called Rehdiger
Gallery. A learncd humanist and a "Professional Collector"2 Thomas Rehdiger (1540 —1576),
beąuethed the collection to the town of Wrocław, together with other works of his "Kunst-
kammer ", with a library containing about 300 manuscripts and 6.000 prints, as well as a
collection of coins3. References to this painting are only found in works concerning Rehdiger4.
It remained unknown to the historians of portrait painting in the XVIth century and to
students of Miche!angelo's iconography. It shows the bust o" the artist, turned three ąuarters
to the right. Features of his face are rather schematically repeated after Michelangelo's
portraits showing him when he was about 70 years old. Mannerist tendency to elongate pro-
portions has changed his face — and this effect togę;Ler with his hairdressing gives animpres-
sion of a much younger man. The dark-brown colour of his irises is also not real, as we know
from Ascanio Condivi's description (1553)5 that Michelangelo had blue eyes.

Vasari quotes the words of Michelangelo, that only artist himself can make his best
portrait6. Also it is well known, that Michalangelo has not appreciatcd his own face. This is
attested by the sarcastic irony of his tonnet, written at about the same time as the unknown
prototype of the Rehdiger painting was made'. These two utterances of Michelangelo's are
of importance for the problem of the artist's portraits during his lifetime. In that time of the
f lourishing of portrait painting, it is not possible to f ind not only self-portraits of Michelangelo —
not counting few "allusive" representations — but also any portrait done from life which
would not rouse doubts of scholars. The few original portraits of the artist were lost in a short

fn

1. Iuv. No. VIII-730. Oil on panel (oak), 45,5 x 33,2 cm.

2. This definition was used by F. Kenner for archduke Ferdinand of Tirol ("Dic PortrMtsammlung des Erzherzogs Ferdinand
von Tirol", Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorichen Sammlungen des Allerh. Kaiserhauses, XIV, 1893, p. 39). It seems also to cor-
respond to Rehdiger who never practised any of the fields of study from which he graduated. Instead, he was buying and
assembling his collection uli his life.

3. The history of his collection is entanglcd with lawsuits. However it is known that the paintingB (kept frem 1589 in the
Auditorium Theologicum building near St. EIisabeth's church) were transferred in 1863 to the Wrocław Art Association.
They were exhibited with all the Wrocław art collections in the Standehaus (Katalog d. Bilder-Galerie im Standehause,
Breslau, 1893, p. 34 — 36) which was the nucleus of the futurę Kunstgewerbe-Museuni. The Rehdiger pictures were ex-
hibited in this muscum among others in 1940 in a show called "Thomas Rehdiger zum Gedachtnis". They remained
in Kunstgewerbe-Muscum till May 5th 1943 when it was decided to bring them to safety in Łojowice n/Strzelin, in one of
the six depot-shelters of this museum. Their further destiny is not known. In 1956 the Silesian museum received from the
USSR a few dozens of paintingB from the former Wrocław collections. Among them were 18 portraits of the Rehdiger
collection.

4. The most important are the following: A. W. J. Wachler, Thomas Rehdiger und seine Biichersammlung in Breslau, Breslau,
1828; A. Bibcr, "Thomas Rehdiger", Schlcsische Lebensbildcr, IV, Breslau, 1931, p. 113-124; Ch. Gundel, Ein Jahr-
hundert grosser Breslauer Gelehrter, Sammler und Forderer der Kunst, Breslau, 1941, p. 12 — 17; H. J. V. Witzendorff-
Rehdiger, "Die Rehdiger in Breslau", Jahrbuch der Schlesischen Friedrich-Wilhełms-Universitdt, II, 1957, p. 93 — 106.

5. A. Condivi, Vita di Michelagnolo,., Roma, 1553, ed. used Firenze, 1744, p. 57 — 58.

6. "Ogni pittore retrae se medesimo bene", G. Vas:iri, Le vite..., ed. Milanesi, VII, Firenze, 1881, p. 280.

7. Die Dichtungi-n ces Michelangiolo Bucnnr^r.ti. ed. Frey. Berlin 1897 p. 86 ff

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