Portrait of a Young Woman

The young woman is depicted against a light blue sky with some clouds. Her face, shown in profile in the tradition of ancient portraiture, is marked by a thin black outline, which makes it stand out. She wears a low-cut bodice laced up in the front. The mass of her hair, supported by a veil, is surrounded by a ribbon and by string of pearls. Two strands of small pearls tied in gold, the “frenello,” descend on her forehead. Her neck is adorned with a necklace with three white pearls alternating with a small gold sphere, to which is attached a pendant with a large ruby.
Great importance is given to the velvet brocade sleeve with a large floral decoration. At that time, dresses had detachable sleeves, secured at the shoulders by ties so that they could be replaced. The sleeves were usually the most valuable part of the dress: some of them were adorned with gems and so were inventoried among the jewels. The richness of the woman’s hairstyle, dress and jewelry suggest that she belonged to the 15th-century Florentine high society.
The jewels have symbolic references to marital love: the white of the pearls evokes purity, the ruby evokes amorous passion. Possibly the portrait was painted close the maiden’s wedding.
In the early 19th century, the painting was in the Milanese palace of Alberico XII Barbiano di Belgioioso d’Este, believed to be a portrait of an ancestor, the wife of Giovanni II Barbiano Count of Cunio. Later, it was in the Borromeo collection, from which Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli acquired it shortly before 1871.
The work, datable to around 1470-1475, belongs to a famous series of female portraits by Piero del Pollaiuolo, now in several European and American museums.
The extraordinary attention paid to the effects of light on the lady’s hair, pearls, and face, shows the influence of the innovations introduced by contemporary Flemish painters.