During the Renaissance in Europe, a curious genre of portraiture rose to prominence and thrived: that of the so-called hidden portrait. Generally these portraits were complemented by either a cover that fit over the portrait or an obverse side on the back of the portrait, containing puzzle-like clues, symbols or a secondary portrait that enhanced the depth of the main work. A new exhibit at the Met unites dozens of these likenesses with their covers to offer a fascinating look at a largely lost art.
According to show curator Alison Nogueira, these portraits served a variety of uses, from providing a entertaining centerpiece at a gathering to celebrate a woman’s betrothal, marking a major journey, or commemorating a death. They could even be political propaganda. In evidence of that, Nogueira pointed to a particular hidden portrait made by painter Lucas Cranach at the behest of the celebrated Protestant revolutionary Martin Luther. In 1525, the renowned cleric’s wedding to the former nun Katharina von Bora Luther raised an outcry, as at the time clerical marriages were largely disapproved of, particularly to a woman who had taken her own vows. “Luther was a former cleric, and his wife was a former nun whose release from a convent he had facilitated,” Nogueira told me. “So their marriage was considered very controversial.”
