Inspirations Behind Angelo Gilardino’s 2 Ritratti italiani
Two Italian paintings, created less than a decade apart, were the inspiration for guitarist Angelo Gilardino’s Due ritratti italiani. Written in 2013, the work takes a painting by Giorgione and one by Titian to draw portraits of two men, one youthful and idealized and the other an experienced soldier for Christ.
Angelo Gilardino
Giorgione’s Knabe mit Pfeil (Boy with Arrow), is a half-length portrait of a youth with brown curly hair holding an arrow.
Giorgione: Knabe mit Pfeil, 1505 (Kunsthistorisches Museum)
The identity of the sitter is not known, and it’s thought to be anyone from Eros, the god of love, to St Sebastian, who was killed for his Christian beliefs. He is typically shown tied to a tree where he was shot with arrows. Although this did not kill him (he was nursed back to health by Irene of Rome), he died after warning the Emperor Diocletian about his sins and was clubbed to death for his trouble. Just as the mythological god of love and sex, Eros / Cupid, was known by his arrows, so St Sebastian is known for his.
The beautiful boy holding his arrow looks out at the viewer, head turned to the side. Against the dark background, he glows out of the darkness, while the shadows on his skin seem to pull him backwards, retreating from the light.
In his music, Gilardino paints a picture of a simple, uncomplicated boy.
Angelo Gilardino: 2 Ritratti italiani – No. 1. Ragazzo con la freccia (Cristiano Porqueddu, guitar)
For his second picture, Gilardino uses a painting by Titian. Painted between 1510 and 1515, it depicts a Knight of Malta, indicated by the half-concealed cross on his left breast.
Vercellio Titian: Ritratto di cavaliere di Malta, 1510–1515 (Florence: Galleria degli Uffizi)
Similar to the Giorgione painting, this portrait is also set against a dark background. The long hair and beard show the subject to be following the style of the time. There is much influence from Giorgione in the painting, but Titian’s hand comes through in the way the character comes through the painting and how the different reflections are handled in the large beads of the rosary. Around the man’s neck is an elaborate multi-strand gold collar that supports a pendant decorated with pearls and an emerald, styled on the Maltese cross. The last bead of the rosary bears the Roman numeral XXXV, indicating that the sitter’s age was 35. The identity of the sitter is unknown.
As befits the older subject, the music for this painting is complex and thoughtful, with weaving counterpoint. It becomes more frenetic toward the end, culminating in a run from the top to the bass of the guitar.
Angelo Gilardino: 2 Ritratti italiani – No. 2. Cavaliere di Malta (Cristiano Porqueddu, guitar)
Angelo Gilardino (1941–2022) started his musical studies in his hometown of Vercelli, in north-west Italy, studying guitar, cello, and composition. He started his concert career in 1958, bringing the guitar back into focus in the 20th century. He performed the premieres of hundreds of new works dedicated to him. He retired from performance in 1981, dedicating himself to composition, teaching, and musicology.
He is best known for his Studi di virtuosità e di trascendenza, which gives guitarists a workout through 60 original compositions, some of which are written in honour of other composers (No. 5. Omaggio a Bela Bartók; No. 11. Omaggio a Heitor Villa-Lobos; No. 35. Omaggio a Manuel Ponce, etc.), and others which are flights of imagination (No. 2. La luna y la Muerte). The work as a whole brings out the variety of voices in the guitar, from the most serious to the ones that speak to the mysteries of the world.
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