Old women with warts are witches, an »ugly« appearance testifies to an ugly character − these and other prejudices and ideas originate from the Renaissance period. Grotesques, satires and caricatures, sometimes unadorned, realistic portraits of people, formed the antithesis of mythological themes in which both sexes present themselves in divine beauty. One of the most famous paintings of an old woman, The Ugly Duchess by Quentin Massys (circa 1513), is the lead image of an unusual exhibition at the National Gallery in London. The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance promises a visit worth remembering and runs from March 16 to June 11.
The word grotesque comes from the Italian grotta for cave. At the beginning of the Renaissance, the image of ancient art striving for beauty and perfection dominated, and this was to prove only partially true. The rediscovery of the Domus Aurea, a palace of the Emperor Nero, which was by then underground, completed the picture: the walls were decorated with demonic fantasy figures and terrifying ornaments. The grotesques and the discovery of the Laocoon group in 1506, with distorted facial features and chaotic appearance, were ultimately the trigger of the Baroque period that followed the Renaissance.
