Handel blog 4*
From Katherine: Forella reminded me that a lot of us who are in the most “vulnerable” age bracket with COVID-19—and I guess that would be all of us except Angela—a lot of us are thinking more seriously about what we would want to leave our loved ones if we do in fact succumb to this new pestilence. We all recognize a shortened time horizon as we get older, but this coronavirus has spurred many to write a will, just as Handel did when he had that first bout of paralysis. His decision to leave a gift of money to his perfumer, James Smyth, was one that he made just shortly before he died, but interestingly, Handel had decided several years before his final days to gift some of his wealthier friends and some of his relatives with a few of the fine portraits that had been painted of him over the years.
From CD: I remember seeing the painting of Handel by Balthasar Denner at the National Portrait Gallery on one of my trips to England. If I remember correctly, he had given the picture to his friend and associate, John Smith, Jr.
From Peter: Lydia wrote to Handel in one of her letters about this generous bestowing of portraits. She said, “And I, my friend, will always treasure the lovely miniature portrait I have of you as a very young man. It is one of my dearest possessions. Edward and I were so honored to be gifted with this reminder of our youthful friendship. I am sure your relatives in Saxony were pleased with the portraits you carried to them as well.”(p. 467) Rather than portraits in oil, now we mostly have smaller photographs in eight by ten frames if we want to display pictures of beloved family members. Large painted portraits typically are reserved for important heads of state and the like although museums are full of those often finely done portraits. They were probably more flattering than photographs would be. Does anyone have any family portraits that carry on the larger, more imposing portrait tradition?
From Wait: My sister has a picture of our grandmother that was, I think, her engagement portrait. It’s pretty big—like 16” by 20”—and in an elaborate frame. My sister asked to have it when my grandmother died. I’ll send a photo of it you can insert here.
From Katherine: Thanks for the comments everyone—and the pictures. More tomorrow.
*All posts listed as “Handel blog” are texts that use the fictional characters in my book The Handel Letters: A Biographical Conversation. As in that book, the posts will often reference things from Handel’s life or time period as starting points. And the post will cite a page or paragraph in the book when it seems relevant. Find The Handel Letters.