Popular Diptych Series Continues with Four New Books at Frick

Images (clockwise from top left): Titian (1488-1576), Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat, 1510s, oil on canvas, 32 1/4 × 28 × 3/4 in.; Riccio (1470-1532), Lamp, ca. 1516-24, bronze, h. 6 5/8 in.; Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757), Portrait of a Man in Pilgrim’s Costume, ca. 1730, pastel on paper, laid down on canvas, 23 1/4 × 18 7/8 in.; Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572), Lodovico Capponi, ca. 1550-55, oil on poplar panel, 45 7/8 x 33 3/4 in. All objects are from The Frick Collection, New York; photographs by Joseph Coscia Jr.

Elizabeth Peyton, James Fenton, Daniel Mendelsohn, and Nicolas Party Join Frick Director and Curators in Responding to Works from the Collection

Popular Diptych Series Continues with Four New Books on Titian, Riccio, Bronzino, and Rosalba Carriera

The Frick Collection expands its popular Diptych series with four new titles—two already available, two to be published this summer. The books focus on Titian’s Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat, a bronze oil lamp modeled by Riccio, Bronzino’s Lodovico Capponi, and the recently acquired pastel Portrait of a Man in Pilgrim’s Costume by Rosalba Carriera, all from the Frick’s permanent collection.

These 2023 publications—bringing the number of titles in the Diptych series to thirteen—provide fresh perspectives on Frick artworks by pairing art historical essays with contributions from contemporary cultural figures.

TITIAN’S MAN IN A RED HAT

Currently available in the Museum Shop at Frick Madison and online, Titian’s Man in a Red Hat focuses on an exquisite Italian Renaissance portrait from the 1510s. The book pairs an essay by the Frick’s Assistant Curator of Sculpture, Giulio Dalvit, with a selection of portraits by artist Elizabeth Peyton that traces her engagement with Titian over many decades.

Various identities for the richly dressed, contemplative young man in Titian’s portrait have been proposed, but none with any certainty. The mood of the subject and the diffused, gentle play of light over the broadly painted surfaces are strongly reminiscent
of Titian’s contemporary Giorgione. In many ways, the Frick portrait epitomizes a new tendency in Italian Renaissance portraiture, one in which the depiction is intended less as an exact representation of the sitter than as an encounter between artist and subject. In his illuminating essay, Dalvit addresses the many questions of provenance, chronology, attribution, and the identity of this mysterious young man. His text is complemented by a series of portraits by Peyton that document her evolving relationship with Titian and Giorgione over a forty-year period.

104 pages, 44 color illustrations, hardcover $29.95 (member price $23.96); available now at the Museum Shop

RICCIO’S OIL LAMP

Pairing an engrossing essay by Ian Wardropper, the Frick’s Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director, with a new poem by renowned English poet and critic James Fenton, Riccio’s Oil Lamp focuses on a Renaissance masterpiece in bronze.

The form of the extraordinary lamp (ca. 1516–24), the most elaborate of several the artist produced, is based on an ancient Roman half-boot. Its surface is covered with intricate reliefs modeled with a goldsmith’s refinement and crisp detail. The subjects include deities, mortals, and motifs from classical art and poetry: a Nereid and Triton, Pan, harpies, and putti, along with goats, musical instruments, shells, masks, and

garlands. As Wardropper discusses in his essay, the lamp would have given its owner both visual and tactile pleasure, as well as intellectual stimulation. Wardropper’s essay is complemented by a poem, beautifully crafted by Fenton.

64 pages, 34 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96); available now at the Museum Shop

BRONZINO’S LODOVICO CAPPONI – AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

Bronzino’s Lodovico Capponi focuses on an enigmatic Renaissance portrait, pairing an essay by Frick Curator Aimee Ng with a moving piece by acclaimed author, critic, and essayist Daniel Mendelsohn.

Painted about 1550–55, Agnolo Bronzino’s elegant portrait depicts the young Florentine aristocrat Lodovico Capponi. Capponi wears black and white, his family’s armorial colors. His right index finger partially conceals the medal he holds, revealing the word SORTE (“fate” or “fortune”)—evoking questions about the young man’s future. In the mid-1550s, Lodovico fell in love with Maddalena Vettori, whom Duke Cosimo I de Medici had intended as the wife for one of his cousins. After years of opposition, the duke relented, and Lodovico and Maddalena were married in 1558 with lavish celebrations. Complementing Ng’s text is a lyrical and personal essay by Mendelsohn, in which he looks closely at Bronzino’s “glum and lordly” sitter.

72 pages, 38 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96); available for pre-order from the Museum Shop

ROSALBA CARRIERA’S MAN IN PILGRIM’S COSTUME – AVAILABLE AUGUST 2023

With an essay by Xavier F. Salomon, Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, and text by Swiss artist Nicolas Party, this book focuses on a spectacular eighteenth-century pastel bequeathed to the museum in 2020 by Alexis Gregory, the founder of Vendome Press.

Party is the preeminent artist working with pastels today. In conjunction with the Diptych book—and in response to the Rosalba portrait—this June the Frick will debut a site-specific pastel mural created by Party at the museum’s temporary home, Frick Madison. In order to include images of the installation in the diptych, the volume will be published six to eight weeks after the opening of this keenly anticipated installation.

Despite the fragility of pastel, the Rosalba portrait, executed about 1730, is in pristine condition. Rosalba spent the entirety of her career in her native Venice and was celebrated during her lifetime throughout Europe for her pastel portraiture. Nothing is known about the sitter in the Frick drawing. He is portrayed as a pilgrim, wearing a black cape and holding a staff, which could indicate that he was a member of the Pellegrini family—pellegrini being the Italian word for “pilgrims.” More likely, his attire is simply a costume related to the Venetian Carnival.

80 pages, 48 color illustrations, hardcover; forthcoming in August

The Frick Diptych series is published by The Frick Collection in association with D Giles Ltd., London, and sold online through the Museum Shop at shop.frick.org or by emailing sales@frick.org.

Additional books in the Frick Diptych series

Holbein’s Sir Thomas More by Hilary Mantel and Xavier F. Salomon
72 pages, 37 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96)

Vermeer’s Mistress and Maid by James Ivory and Margaret Iacono
64 pages, 30 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96)

Gouthière’s Candelabras by Edmund de Waal and Charlotte Vignon
64 pages, 27 color illustrations, hardcover $19.95 (member price $15.96)

Rembrandt’s Polish Rider by Maira Kalman and Xavier F. Salomon
84 pages, 48 color illustrations, hardcover $19.95 (member price $15.96)

Constable’s White Horse by William Kentridge and Aimee Ng
72 pages, 37 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96)

Titian’s Pietro Aretino by Francine Prose and Xavier F. Salomon
72 pages, 25 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96)

Fragonard’s Progress of Love by Alan Hollinghurst and Xavier F. Salomon 112 pages, 55 color illustrations, hardcover $29.95 (member price $23.96)

Monet’s Vétheuil in Winter by Olafur Eliasson and Susan Grace Galassi 72 pages, 35 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96)

Paolo Veneziano’s Coronation of the Virgin by Nico Muhly and Xavier F. Salomon 72 pages, 34 color illustrations, hardcover $24.95 (member price $19.96)

ABOUT THE FRICK COLLECTION AND FRICK MADISON

The historic buildings of The Frick Collection are currently closed for renovation and enhancement, their first comprehensive upgrade since the 1930s. For the duration of the renovation project, the collections of the museum and library remain accessible to the public at Frick Madison, the Marcel Breuer–designed building at 945 Madison Avenue that was once the home of the Whitney Museum of American Art and, most recently, The Met Breuer. The project ensures that the public continues to enjoy the Frick’s masterpieces, while also giving the museum a unique opportunity to reimagine its presentation of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts within a completely different context. For the first time, audiences are able to enjoy a substantial gathering of highlights from the Frick’s permanent collection outside the domestic setting of the Gilded Age mansion.

Honoring the institution’s architectural legacy and unique character, the project plan designed by Selldorf Architects will provide unprecedented access to the original 1914 residence of Henry Clay Frick, while preserving the intimate visitor experience and beloved galleries for which the Frick is known. Conceived to address pressing institutional and programmatic needs, the plan will create new spaces for permanent collection display as well as special exhibitions, conservation, education, and public programs, while improving visitor amenities and overall accessibility.

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BASIC INFORMATION
Website: frick.org
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Frick Madison visitor address: 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York, NY 10021
Museum hours: Thursday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; closed Monday through Wednesday. See website for holiday schedule.
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Please note: Children under ten are not admitted to the museum.
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Public programs: A calendar of online, virtual, and video events is available on our website.
Shop: Open during museum hours as well as online daily.
Refreshments: A light menu, offered by The SisterYard, is available on the lower level during museum hours.
Subway: #6 local to 77th Street station; #Q to 72nd Street station. Bus: M1, M2, M3, and M4 southbound on Fifth Avenue to 75th Street and northbound on Madison Avenue to 74th Street.
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