A ''cartellino'' (Italian for "small piece of paper"In modern Italian, ''carta'' means "paper", the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

''cartello'' means "sign", and the

double diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle som ...

''cartellino'' means "tag".) is an illusionistic portrayal of a written note included in painting, mostly with a legend that records the name of the artist, the date, the subject, or some other relevant information about the work. About 500

Renaissance painting Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

s include a ''cartellino'', but the device has been adopted by some later artists. It usually takes the form of a fictive rectangular scrap of parchment or paper – sometimes with frayed edges, creased or torn – which is depicted as being attached with a pin or wax to a surface that lies parallel to the picture plane, perhaps a foreground parapet or a background wall. Often the ''cartellino'' gives the impression of the note being attached to the surface of the painting rather than being part of the artwork itself. This ''

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

'' effect may reflect an earlier artistic practice of real notes being physically attached to paintings. Other suggestions of the origins include the inscriptions included in the

Early Netherlandish painting Early Netherlandish painting is the body of work by artists active in the Burgundian Netherlands, Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period, once known as the Flemish Primitives. It flour ...

s works of

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...

, such as his 1432 ''

Léal Souvenir ''Léal Souvenir'' (also known as ''Timotheus'' or ''Portrait of a Man'') is a small oil painting, oil-on-oak panel painting, panel portrait by the Early Netherlandish painting, Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, dated 1432. The sitter ...

'', and from the artistic practice at the studio of

Francesco Squarcione Francesco Squarcione (''c.'' 1395 – after 1468) was an Italian artist from Padua. His pupils included Andrea Mantegna (with whom he had many legal battles), Cosimo Tura and Carlo Crivelli. There are only two works signed by him: the ''Ma ...

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, based on the gothic inscriptions seen in medieval paintings.

History

The ''cartellino'' appears in

Italian Renaissance painting Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...

from the 15th century into the 16th century, and particularly in painting from

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and the

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

from the 1470s to the 1520s. One of the first ''cartellini'' appears on the '' Tarquinia Madonna'' by

Filippo Lippi Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Quattrocento (fifteenth century) and a Carmelite priest. He was an early Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many paint ...

, painted in 1437. Other early examples include

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

's 1448 painting of ''

St Mark Mark the Evangelist (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek: Μᾶρκος, romanized: ''Mârkos''), also known as John Mark (Koine Greek, Koinē Greek language, Greek: Ἰωάννης Μᾶρκος, Romanization of Greek, romanized: ''Iōánnēs Mârkos;'' ...

'', and Marco Zoppo's '' Wimborne Madonna'' of c.1455. Later examples include

Carlo Crivelli Carlo Crivelli ( – ) was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto, where he absorbed influences from the Vivarini, Squarcione, and Mantegna. He left the Vene ...

's c.1480 '' Lenti Madonna'',

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...

's 1501–1502 ''

Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan The ''Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan'' () is a painting by Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, dating from . It portrays Leonardo Loredan, the Doge of Venice from 1501 to 1521, in his ceremonial garments with the ''corno ducale'' worn ...

'' and

Jacopo de' Barbari Jacopo (also Iacopo) is a masculine Italian given name, derivant from Latin ''Iacōbus''. It is an Italian variant of Giacomo ( James in English). * Jacopo Aconcio (), Italian religious reformer * Jacopo Bassano (1592), Italian painter * Iac ...

's 1504 ''

Still-Life with Partridge and Gauntlets ''Still-Life with Partridge and Gauntlets'' is a 1504 painting by the Italian painter Jacopo de' Barbari. It measures and is held by the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The small oil painting, oil-on-tilia, limewood-panel painting is considered to ...

''. The ''cartellino'' fell out of fashion, as artists desired to be known directly from the virtuosic quality of their work, not as craftsmen with a workshop whose work was identified by their name on a label. By 1548, a character in

Paolo Pino Paolo Pino (?-?, active between 1534 and 1565) was an Italian painter and art writer. He was born in Venice. A student of Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo, he wrote the "Dialogo di pittura" (1548), which affirmed the supremacy of the Venetian School ...

's ''Dialogo di pittura'' was describing the ''cartellino'' as a laughable thing. However, there are several ''cartellini'' in

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...

's '' Portrait of Georg Giese'' from 1532, and

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanis ...

included ''cartellini'' in about a fifth of his autograph works, including his 1628 painting of '' Saint Serapion''. In her 2009 PhD thesis, Kandice Rawlings distinguishes the ''cartellino'' from other written element including in a painting, such as depictions of inscriptions in stone or on wooden plaques, or writing in books held by subjects, or on streamers or banderoles. Other contemporary terms that were used for the same device include ''letterina'', ''cartucce'', and ''bolletta'' – that is, small letter,

cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...

, or label. Despite the similarity of the word, there is little evidence of any connection with the ''cardellino'' ( goldfinch, a symbol of Christ's Passion). Rawlings documents 412 Italian paintings with ''cartellini'', almost all religious subject or portraits. Early examples are connected with

. About three quarters were painted by artists trained or active in Venice and the Veneto. About three quarters were painted between 1470 and 1530, with the largest number in the first decade of the 16th century. About four fifths contain the artist's signature. A third include a date, often alongside a signature. Rawlings identifies another 74 paintings from outside Italy that include ''cartellini'', principally from Germany, mainly

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

in the early 16th century, England, mainly

Holbein Holbein may refer to: *Holbein (surname) *Holbein, Saskatchewan, a small village in Canada *Holbein carpet, a type of Ottoman carpet *Holbein stitch, a type of embroidery stitch * Holbein (crater), a crater on Mercury {{Disambig ...

in the mid-1500s, and Spain, mainly

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

in the late 16th and early 17th century,

Velázquez Velázquez, also Velazquez, Velásquez or Velasquez (, ), is a surname from Spain. It is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Velasco". References to "Velazquez" without a first name are often to the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez. Notable peo ...

in the 1630s, and Zurbarán as late as the 1660s. The ''cartellino'' had a knowing revival in

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

's 1915 ''Zapatista Landscape''. Lippi Madonna di tarquinia.jpg,

, '' Madonna of Tarquinia'', 1437 Andrea Mantegna 087.jpg,

, ''

'', 1448 La Vierge et l'Enfant entourés de huit anges - Marco Zoppo - Musée du Louvre Peintures RF 1980 1.jpg, Marco Zoppo, '' Wimborne Madonna'', c.1455 Carlo Crivelli 068.jpg,

a, '' Lenti Madonna'', c.1480 Giovanni Bellini, portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan.jpg,

, ''

'', 1501-2 Jacopo de' Barbari 001.jpg,

, ''

'', 1504 San Serapio, por Francisco de Zurbarán.jpg,

, '' Saint Serapion'', 1628 Diego Rivera - Zapata-style Landscape - Google Art Project.jpg,

, '' Zapatista Landscape'', 1915

Notes

References

Cartellino
Glossary, National Gallery * * {{cite thesis , type=PhD , last=Rawlings , first=Kandice , date=2009 , title=Liminal Messages: the ''cartellino'' in Italian Renaissance painting , location=New Brunswick , publisher=Rutgers University , url=https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/25887/ Visual motifs

History

See also

Notes

References