A signature or an initial is a huge part of the artist’s identity; however, most artists did not sign their work back then. The artist’s person was seldom a deserving subject of representation during the medieval age and the early decades of the Renaissance. What fascinated me in the examples given in the article is how Botticelli positioned himself in his paintings as one of the crowd. Nevertheless, you would notice him immediately looking at what we feel is the “lens” of the painter—looking at us, the viewers of the painting, separating himself from the scene. This sends an entirely different signal to us; it tells us this person has some authority or ownership of this piece of art. Another aspect that caught my attention is the inscription. This serves to brand and differentiate the artist. The language the artist chooses to inscribe, the position of the inscription, and the content all serve as portraits of the artist through his own art.

On a side note, while I enjoyed reading this article by Farago, I found the medium uncomfortable (the flow and the journal as I have to be a paying customer to read). I think the idea was to make readers pause and reflect on each small paragraph by looking at the painting. However, I felt the concept of enforcing how I read through continuous scrolling was unnatural and disruptive. It’s just my opinion, as I’m sure many people enjoy “scrollytelling”.