Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

According to tradition, it was Cosimo “the Elder” de’ Medici who coined the expression “Ogni pittore dipinge sè.” (Every artist paints himself.) This practice has been labeled “automimesis,” literally meaning “self-imitation,” and refers to an artist who creates himself involuntarily in his artwork. While artists such as Filippo Lippi and Botticelli are often accused of repeating their own physiognomy in almost every face they painted, other illustrious artists such as Masaccio, Filippino Lippi, Luca Signorelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Pontormo, Caravaggio and Bernini candidly included their own self-portraits in their works. Dr. Rocky will explore the tradition of artists’ self-portraits in Italian Renaissance art.