Draperymen had a knack for painting velvet, lace, satin, and silk, doing so in the style of their clients. Sometimes the portrait artist would paint only the head and hands and then send the canvas to the draperyman for finishing. One of the most prominent among them was the Flemish-born Joseph van Aken, who assisted Allan Ramsay and Sir Joshua Reynolds. So much was van Aken depended upon, that after his death in 1749, William Hogarth made a satirical drawing showing his distressed clients dolefully following his coffin.
Draperyman at Encyclopedia.com
:-)
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean that Sir Joshua Reynolds was merely a Face-Painter and a Handyman?
norman rockwell hired other people to do lettering. an example is his 'yankee doodle' mural.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! I had never heard of a draperyman before. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteIt's like some cool superhero. I am DRAPERYMAN!!! This might explain why proportions were always sort of off during this time. Heads and hands didn't always match the proportions of the bodies. Interesting blog! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I find the drapery/costume in this case of King George III far more interesting than his face.
ReplyDeleteI can see why the practice fell out of favor.
This revelatory post has made my head explode. O_O
ReplyDeleteI have always been fascinated with the way fabric drapes the body and follows contours - how it falls into folds and piles at the foot of a model. How light passes through fabric and the realistic rendering of different kinds of fabrics, expecially brocade has been a goal of mine. Alphonse Mucha was wonderful at drapery.
ReplyDelete... this man has created the first portable sauna !
ReplyDeleteA similar case is that of "quadraturista" (I think the italian word is used in english, too), the specialist in painting architectural elements and space, mainly in frescoes. Even G.B. Tiepolo, who was such an astonishing master, had his favourite quadraturista, Gerolamo Mengozzi Colonna - Colonna (column) is a nickname.
ReplyDeleteI understand there was also more than one acclaimed "horse painter," who specialized in painting the horses for portraits of nobles riding their favorite mounts. One story is that one of these specialists was frequently called upon to repaint the horses in the portraits, as favorite mounts passed away and were replaced. How strange, to think of portraits that show young noblemen riding horses that were not even born when their portraits were originally painted!
ReplyDeletethanks for the post.
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