Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Ashbery
- First Published: 1975
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Meditation
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Dreams, Reality, Imagination, Painting or painters, Time, Mirrors or lenses, Portraits
“Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror” is Ashbery's most popular and most critically honored poem, and it brings together some of the best and some of the most annoying elements in his work. From its beginning, it requires some basic knowledge of a specific painting that Ashbery (a well-known art critic) admires. Italian painter Parmigianino (1503-1540), whose real name was Francesco Mazzola, was one of the foremost mannerist painters. He produced a self-portrait, and in order to impress his Roman patrons with his technical prowess, he painted the likeness as it would appear in a...
[The entire page is 1048 words long]
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