Art of History
By Amanda Matta
Hosted by Amanda Matta, art historian and TikTok's favorite royal commentator.
Art of HistoryJun 27, 2022
HRH The Duchess of Baltimore
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1785-1879) was one of America’s first international celebrities and self-made women. But how did this Baltimore girl come to count royalty among her in-laws—a century or two before the likes of Wallis Simpson and Meghan Markle snagged their princes? The answer may lie in her unique triple-view portrait by Gilbert Stuart…or is that only part of Elizabeth’s story?
Today's Image: Gilbert Stuart, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1804). Oil on canvas. Private collection.
New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
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The Man and His Muse
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) is considered one of American’s greatest modern artists. His works combine a regionalist simplicity with a surrealist view of the inner world. But without the people and places that inspired him and allowed him to channel his emotions onto the canvas, we might never have seen that inner world at all.
Let’s take a walk through the life of Andrew Wyeth, encountering the several muses that played an integral part in his creative process, as we endeavor to answer, “What is a muse?”
Today’s artwork: Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World (1948). Tempera on Panel. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
New episodes every other week. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
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Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact
Spring in Her Step
Sandro Botticelli (c.1455-1510) is credited as the man behind some of the greatest mythological paintings in Western art history—a great feat, especially considering that we still don’t fully know the meaning behind his most ambitious work.
Primavera, or Spring (c. 1480) is brimming with allegorical puzzle pieces. Rather than using the Primavera to tell a story from the past, this week we’ll take a step into the painting itself in an effort to demystify what was once a prized possession of Florence’s Medici dynasty.
Today's Image: Sandro Botticelli, Primavera (Spring) (c. 1480). Tempera grassa on wood. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
New episodes every other week–ish. Let's keep in touch!
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Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
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Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
Elizabeth: The Early Years
Today's Image: English School, Queen Elizabeth I (“The Hever Portrait” or “The Chawton Portrait”) (1558). Oil on Panel. Hever Castle.
New episodes every other week. Let's keep in touch!
Patreon: patreon.com/matta_of_fact
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact
A Call to Arms
This episode has everything: snakes, missing limbs, a true crime case, and sculptor Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni being annoyed.
Today’s artwork: Agesander of Rhodes, Athenodoros, and Polydorus (attr.), Laocoön and His Sons (Hellenistic Period?). Marble. Vatican Museums, Vatican City.
New episodes every other week. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact
The Real Queen Charlotte
Much of the speculation over Charlotte’s ancestry comes from interpretations of Sir Allan Ramsay’s portraits of her, in which her features are, in one historian’s words, “conspicuously African.” We’ll examine the actual historical evidence that addresses Queen Charlotte’s background, but we’ll also try and get to know the woman behind all the spectacle and rhetoric. So, will the real Queen Charlotte please stand up?
Today’s artwork: Sir Allan Ramsay, Queen Charlotte (1762). Oil on canvas. Royal Collection Trust, U.K.
New episodes every other week. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @matta_of_fact // @artofhistorypod
A Swing Called Love
Listener discretion is advised for this episode, unless you’re a parent who is prepared to get really cool about some adult themes very quickly.
Today's Image: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Les hasards heureux de l'escarpolette (The Happy Hazards of the Swing) (1767). Oil on Canvas, 81 x 64.2 cm. Wallace Collection, London.
New episodes every other Friday. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @matta_of_fact
Mr. Lincoln, I Presume?
In 1872, Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) visited the photography studio of one William H. Mumler (1832-1884), who claimed to be able to capture images of deceased loved ones on film. A byproduct of Mrs. Lincoln's spiritualist beliefs, the photograph that today's story centers around offers us a glimpse at the strange practices which Civil War-era Americans would resort to in their efforts to find comfort and solace in the wake of death and tragedy.
Today's Image: William H. Mumler, “Mary Todd Lincoln,” (1872). Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, Allen County Public Library. Fort Wayne, Indiana.
New episodes every other Friday. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @matta_of_fact
Becoming Joan
Jules Bastien-Lepage's life-size depiction of Joan of Arc (1412-1431) shows her at the very beginning of her journey to sainthood. But a lot happened between her spiritual awakening in 1425 and her canonization as the patron saint of France in 1920. So, how did she get there? And how was her image molded by the national and spiritual needs of a nation?
Today's image: Jules Bastien-Lepage, Joan of Arc (1879). Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
New episodes every other Friday. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @matta_of_fact
The Life of Dido
In the mid-1770s, the Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793) commissioned a portrait of his two great-nieces, Elizabeth Murray (1760-1825) and Dido Belle (1761-1804). But it was Elizabeth's name that would be remembered through history, and Dido's would only be rediscovered in the 1990s. In this episode, we discuss her origins, her position in her great-uncles stately home, and how she is portrayed in the only known Neoclassical portrait depicting a black woman and a white woman as equals.
Today's image: David Martin, Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray (ca. 1778). Oil on canvas. Scone Palace, Scotland.
New episodes every other Friday. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @matta_of_fact
Who Tells Your Story?
Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793) was a giant of the French Revolution. I guess you could say that one thing led to another, though, and he ended up dead in a bathtub. His friend, artist Jacques-Louis David (1748-1845), memorialized that gruesome event in today's artwork and in the process, spun the narrative to better serve their shared political aims.
Today's image: Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat (1793). Oil on canvas. Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium.
New episodes every other Friday. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @matta_of_fact
(Queen) Victoria's Secret
Our popular image of Queen Victoria (1819-1901) paints her as a monarch, a mother, a wife, and a widow. But today we are looking at a portrait of Victoria that shows us the woman, not her roles. Join me for a bit of historically sanctioned snooping into the hidden side of Victoria, her relationship with her hubby, and their love language of choice.
Today's image: Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Queen Victoria (1843). Oil on canvas. Royal Collection Trust, United Kingdom.
New episodes every other Friday. Let's keep in touch!
Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com
Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast
Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod
TikTok: @matta_of_fact
Introducing the Art of History Podcast!
Join me for episodes from history, viewed through great works of art. No pre-reqs required!