File:Drawing (BM 1846,0509.198).jpg

Height: 192 millimetres

Width: 170 millimetres

Servidori made this self portrait when he was 32 years old in Naples. He is seated wearing the robes of a cleric (brother Hospitaller of the Order of Saint John of God), holding in his left hand a sheet of physiognomical studies that he has prepared. In his other hand he holds a quill pen. The guise in which he portrays himself together with the inscription emphasises his work as a draftsman and his religious vocation. Serivdori is referred to in documents variously as painter and draughtsman and he is best remembered as a writing master or calligrapher. He was the author of the lavish two volume study, 'Reflexiones sobre la verdadera arte de escribir' published in Madrid in 1789 (Imprenta Real) in which the frontispiece shows him as a much older man, but holding the quill pen and flanked by allegorical figures referring to his profession. The 'Reflexiones' is regarded as one of the most splendid examples of its kind ever published.

There was a long and venerable tradition of writing masters in Spain stretching back to the mid sixteenth century. It was not uncommon for members of religious orders to be involved in this profession because it combined teaching and artistry while in the service of a patron or a religious house. Their work was often not restricted to calligraphy but included printmaking, painting and other types of drawing. The Franciscan priest Matías de Irala Yuso, for example, was one of the most prolific printmakers in the early 18th century in Madrid (see 1846,0509.167). The Jesuit priest Esteban Terreros y Pando (1707-82), master of mathematics in the Colegio Imperial de la Compañía de Jesús, published the 'Paleografía española: que contiene todos los modos conocidos que ha habido de escribir en España' (Madrid 1758) and the Capuchin monk Luis de Olod (1720-94) wrote the 'Tratado de origen y arte de escribir' (1766).

Further demonstration of his Sevidori's drawing skill can be seen in his 'St Rosalia' made later in 1775 (1846,0509.197).

Literature