Abstract
For Michael Fried, also, the metaphor of the mirror lies at the core of Savoldo's artistic production; in his Painting with Demons: The Art of Gerolamo Savoldo, a much-needed critical reevaluation of the sixteenth-century Northern Italian painter's work, Fried posits that Savoldo's paintings are “to an uncanny degree, mirrors . . . in which both world and artist paint themselves.” Fried focuses many of his observations on the mask like apparitions, effectively maintaining through a comparison with Albrecht's Dürer's drawing of Six Pillows that these phantasmagoric forms demonstrate Savoldo's engagement with Northern art. Fried ends his book with the line, “But this is speculation” (169), again acknowledging that some readers may not agree with what he calls “a highly personal attempt” (6) to grapple with the unusual features of Savoldo's art.