The Met’s delightful show “Hidden Faces: Covered Portraits of the Renaissance” illuminates a curious trend in 15th- and 16th-century painting: the slow reveal.
The works on view, originally concealed in special cases and behind sliding or reversible panels, gamify the experience of looking at portraiture; they have to be moved, before they can move us.
But we can peer at them from double-sided glass cases and watch animations of faces emerging from sliding panels.
The covers are marvelous works in their own right, with elaborate emblems and allegories that are themselves a form of representation.
The interactions between the different components can be quite playful, with a literary and theatrical flair.
Persons:
Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
Organizations:
Met, Courtauld
Locations:
London, Florence, Florentine