Family Portraits - A Comparison: de Chirico and Grigoletti

Left: Self Portrait with Mother by Giorgio de Chirico Right: Portrait of Parents by Michelangelo Grigoletti

Portrait of Parents by Michelangelo Grigoletti—a painter from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy—was completed in 1829. Giorgio de Chirico's Self-Portrait with Mother carries the date of 1921. Painted nearly one hundred years apart, these two works are not only two of the most outstanding family portraits I have ever seen, but they are also deeply worthy of further comparative study.

In both canvases, the sitters face one another, yet their gazes never meet. Giorgio de Chirico’s mother looks beyond her son, while de Chirico himself stares directly at the viewer. In Michelangelo Grigoletti’s portrait, the father seems captivated by his son, the painter, while the mother looks away, her attention drifting elsewhere.

It is clear that in both portraits, the mother is the dominant figure. De Chirico positions his mother in the foreground while placing himself in the background; he lacks the quiet authority she projects, appearing somewhat withdrawn instead. In Grigoletti's work, while the father seems perfectly content, the mother's expression suggests she will require much more to be satisfied. A subtle shadow stretches from her toward the father, further underscoring her dominance in the relationship.

There are no distractions in Grigoletti’s portrait. The parents are set against a neutral gray background, and the somberness of the color scheme is lightened only by the vibrant red shawl draped over the mother's head and shoulders—further proof, in my analysis, that she was the true center of the family.

In de Chirico’s canvas, however, the figures are placed in an open, outdoor space beneath a blue sky streaked with light clouds. The mother is surrounded by nature: a pink flower rises behind her, and another red blossom rests near her arm. Behind de Chirico, a few green leaves peek into the frame. On the bottom right, two figs lie on the ledge—one pointing toward de Chirico and the other toward his mother. While figs traditionally represent prosperity and abundance, they could also be interpreted as a symbol of de Chirico’s fertile artistic mind.

Despite the complexity of these family dynamics, it is the artists themselves who ultimately command our attention. De Chirico gazes directly at the viewer with a clear, defiant message: I am the one with the artistic talent. We find a similar assertion in Grigoletti’s portrait of his parents. By having his father look intently toward him—the painter just outside the frame—the artist cleverly enters the canvas, asserting his own prominence through his father's proud gaze.