Pittura infamante (pronounced [pitˈtuːra iɱfaˈmante]; Italian for "defaming portrait"; plural pitture infamanti) is a genre of defamatory painting and relief, common in Renaissance Italy in city-states in North Italy and Central Italy during the Trecento, Quattrocento, and Cinquecento.[1] Popular subjects of pittura infamante include traitors, thieves, and those guilty of bankruptcy or public fraud, often in cases where no legal remedy was available. Commissioned by governments of city-states and displayed in public centers, pittura infamante were both a form of "municipal justice" (or "forensic art"[2]) and a medium for internal political struggles.[3]
According to Samuel Edgerton, the genre began to decline precisely when it came to be regarded as a form of art rather than effigy; the power of the genre derived from a feudal-based code of honor, where shame was one of the most significant social punishments.[1] As such, pittura infamante has its roots in the doctrines of fama and infamia in ancient Roman law.[4]