Talk:Gaetano Guadagni

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Perhaps it might be a good idea to edit the caption to the picture in this article, (or maybe remove it altogether). I curated the exhibition at Handel House last year that brought this image to public notice, and now understand that there is very good reason to doubt that the picture is of Guadagni. There are a couple of others of him in cyberspace, so perhaps, for accuracy's sake, one of those should be substituted. Nick Clapton --Voxclamans 15:44, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

You're really Nick Clapton? Honoured to have you round here. That exhibition was just wonderful, by the way, I enjoyed it so much I went twice. Perhaps you could elaborate on your reasoning for thinking that the painting is not of Guadagni, but in the meantime I'll do as you say and swap the photo. Cheers, Moreschi ^{Request a recording?} 18:24, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Gah. Annoyingly, google images is not giving me anything as an alternative. Can you provide a link? Cheers, Moreschi ^{Request a recording?} 18:30, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Yes it's me, for what that's worth! I'm glad to be of any help I can, and that you enjoyed the exhibition. The problems with the attribution of the picture are that the music the singer is holding is in the soprano clef, and Guadagni, especially in his youth, was most definitely an alto. Otherwise, when we were doing the catalogue I was (perhaps too easily) convinced of the identity of the portrait's subject by the advice of an art historian, in whose opinion it resembled the image that's been around for a long time of Guadagni in old age. I'll see what I can find. How should I upload something from my hard-drive? Incidentally, I've also done a big edit on the Wikipedia Farinelli article. I hope I won't have ruffled any feathers! Please have a look at it, if you have a moment, and let me have you opinion. Best wishes, Nick--voxclamans 18:35, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Ah, clever. I see. Yes, please do feel free to upload a more reliable picture of Guadagni: he died so long ago that we don't have to worry about copyright, and no 2D reproduction of a portrait of him can be copyrighted, at least for the purposes of American law, which is the law that concerns Wikipedia. Cheers, Moreschi ^{Request a recording?} 19:42, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

I have never done this before, but how on Earth does one upload an image. I have one on my hard-drive, and there's one on the web. It's driving me nuts, and I have read Wiki's instructions! Sorry to be so stupid!--voxclamans 11:18, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Go to Special:Upload. To find your image click "Browse" and that will take you to your documents: click on the image name, which should be titled Gaetano Guadagni. Put a short description of where the portrait came from, select the relevant licensing - in this case 2D photo of author who died over a hundred years ago - and then click upload file. Does this help? Cheers, Moreschi ^{Request a recording?} 11:45, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your help - what mysteries there are in cyberspace! I have found an image of Guadagni in old age, which I have uploaded. There is another (somewhere) of him in middle life, which I will also try to find. All best, Nick----voxclamans 19:16, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

I've just finished a big expand, including the other image I mentioned previously. I put back the 'racy' stuff about G., which I think is well worth having. Hope it's OK.--voxclamans 11:48, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

birth date

I've corrected this for the second time! Must have done something wrong first time round, but it's definitely 16 - ii - 1728. P Howard —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.217.173.158 (talk) 10:25, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Thanks so much for this - I still haven't had time to read your MT article. All best, Nick--voxclamans 19:03, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

I've now corrected the month of his death. We were all mislead by Paolo Cattelan (Acta musicologica 59/2(1987), p. 162, n. 34) but I am just back from Padua where I have seen the original of the death register, and it is beyond doubt November 1792. He died of liver failure.

The second portrait in the article (the haggard old man) is definitely Vallotti. You need to translate the Latin bit at the bottom of the portrait to discover this, but it's also identical to a sculpture in one of the cloisters in the Santo. Guadagni paid for the portrait, that's why his name appears rather prominently if you don't get the Latin translated. My version is as follows: "This picture portrays the face of Vallotti, and depicts his character on his face. Music, you who boast Phoebus and the Muses as your leaders here acknowledge that this is your leader, your judge and your father. I, Ignatio Columbo, fashioned this portrait at the request of that most outstanding musician Cavalier Gaetano Guadagni."

On the more positive side, I've been trying to date the Fedi medallion, and Irene Brandenburg believes it is c. 1790, i.e. made in G's lifetime. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Patricia Howard (talk • contribs) 13:49, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Images of Guadagni

Unfortunately, the very striking image posted on Guadagni's page recently is not of him; it was catalogued as "probably Guadagni" in the Handel House Museum's exhibition "Handel and the Castrati", but this was far too "hopeful" an attribution, and is now known to be false - I curated that exhibition.voxclamans (talk) 20:47, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

I've corrected the caption to Vallotti's portrait. Patricia Howard — Preceding unsigned comment added by Patricia Howard (talk • contribs) 10:34, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Walpole/Mann letter in "Career" section problematic

The Walpole/Mann quotation in the career section needs more context and explanation. Right now it is introduced to substantiate the statement: "He was rapidly taken up in theatrical and musical circles in the capital, and also acquired a reputation for non-artistic activities, as did many castrati..." However the quote not only describes Guadagni's sexual activity with a woman: it also depicts a brutal rape-as-retribution by Francis Blake Delaval. I don't think this needs to be expanded or examined necessarily (since there are very few sources available to contextualize it in a factual discussion of his life) but I do find it problematic and disturbing to have the quote appear on the page with its only context being "non-artistic activity." I'm sure that the rape of castrati by intact men was a widespread phenomenon (it certainly is referred to several times in contemporary literature) and its apparently trivial inclusion here is demeaning to a meaningful explanation of Guadagni's life and career. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to better frame the quote? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Monsieurpeanut2 (talk • contribs) 08:07, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

My view is that "non-artistic activities" is unnecessarily coy given the context. I changed it to "sexual activities". I also replaced the (deprecated) large blue scare quotes with a simple block quote format. I would tend to agree with you about giving such prominence to a lengthy quote in the context of his whole life and career. I would be inclined to simply and briefly summarise the episode. The full quote can be given in a footnote since the source is offline. Voceditenore (talk) 08:39, 12 November 2012 (UTC)