Portrait of Fra Teodoro of Urbino as St Dominic, Giovanni Bellini, 1515, National Gallery, London.
This portrait of a Dominican friar has two inscriptions. The painted label on the book says “Sanctus Dominicus”, but the other label, painted on the marble ledge below, reads “Imago Fratris Theodori Urbinatis”. In fact, there was a friar named Fra Teodoro da Urbino at the Dominican Priory in Venice in 1515, when this was painted. The halo, the lily, the Gospel book bearing the saint’s name, and even the faraway look in his eyes all suggest that Fra Teodoro is posed as St Dominic. At that time in Venice, it was common in portraiture to pose a subject as a saint. This meant that the saint was shown as a real person rather than one with idealised features. But here, the naturalism only extends to the sitter, not to the saint. St Dominic died when he was 51 and is usually shown as a younger man. Fra Teodoro looks to be much older than 51. In 1515, Bellini himself was an old man too. He died the following year, in 1516. This was his last portrait. Bellini and his family had had a long association with the Dominican community at Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. In fact, Bellini was buried in their church. Characteristically for Bellini there is a notable psychological realism about the sadness of the friar’s expression. But notice that the halo is not quite right. The lily is behind the halo, whereas it should be in front of it. This suggests that the halo was added later, and that originally Bellini’s portrait showed the friar as he looked, including bushy eyebrows, wrinkles and the sombre expression. It is likely that these two men knew each other well. Perhaps this elderly pair — artist and sitter — wanted to make a deliberate statement about how vocation continues to be lived out even in old age. The old man Bellini paints another old man, perhaps to remind the viewer that this friar still makes Dominic present, not in spite of, but precisely because of, his many years in the Order. St Dominic, pray for us.
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