Pope Leo X (after Raphael)
This painting was made in 1964, while Botero was still experimenting with what was soon to become his signature style. Called boterismo, it is characterized by highly stylized volumetric figures and objects, the flatness of surface and simplification of the color palette. As in this painting, Botero often painted portraits after famous works from an art history made by Old Masters - Raphael, Da Vinci, Velazquez, Ingres, Degas, etc. This type of artistic citation is quite common to the era of postmodernism. The style he uses in this painting could be easily characterized as naive or primitive on the basis of artistic manner, but in fact, the concept of his artworks is more postmodern then naive. The artist uses the legacy of pre-Columbian art as well as the tradition of Western painting, and creates a complex mixture of styles. Also, the irony and caricature simplicity are often part of his artistic manner, by which he gives a critical comment on the society he lives in.
Oversized Pope Leo X, painted after Raphael’s portrait, shows banality of copying older artworks, as well as the banality of our expectations from art and portrait paintings. Raphael’s work shows us a seriousness of the facial expression, a dedication to details, and a naturalism in the depiction of the character, while Botero’s painting shows none of these. Pope Leo X is represented oversimplified in form, grotesque in his size, in quite monochrome colors, and almost without any paraphernalia. Reducing the figure of the Pope to what it may be seen, in the 21st century, - as a figure that continues tradition without keeping the essence of it,- Botero humorously plays with the role of the Pope, as well as the role of artist, doomed to cite Old Masters. This is his personal reflection on the tradition of Western art, but also on the way a postmodern observer perceives past artworks.
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