A Personification of Fame
- Artist: Bernardo Strozzi
- Date: probably 1635-6
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the "A Personification of Fame" by Bernardo Strozzi. Her wings and the trumpets she holds identify her as the allegorical figure of Fame, who's normally shown with a single trumpet or two of different lengths to symbolise honourable fame and infamy.
Here, however, she holds a golden trumpet in one hand and a wooden instrument - a shawm, which is like an early version of the oboe - in the other. The painting is a late work by Strozzi, who spent the last years of his life in Venice. He was known as 'il prete Genovese' or the Genoese priest because he belonged to the Capuchin Order.
The bright colours and fine brushwork on Fame's skirt and shirt are typical of Strozzi's technique. It's likely that this painting was intended as an overdoor, given its slightly low viewpoint and elongated format. We don't know who it was painted for, but it may have belonged to the last Duke of Mantua or been in a collection in Venice.
See it in person
A Personification of Fame hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
