Central Italian school, circa 1650.
"Portrait of Lady".
Oil on canvas.
It presents damages in the frame and frame of the XIX century.
Measures: 74 x 59 cm; 88 x 73 cm (frame).
Oil on canvas, in which the bust of a woman is represented, following the classical tradition of portraiture. The lady protagonist of the painting shows all the evidences of belonging to the high nobility; the mastery of the execution and the detailing allow us to appreciate secondary elements such as the attributes that the woman carries, which indicate a high social position. Thus, she wears an attire according to the feminine fashion of the XVII century. Defined by the tight bodice and embroidery that are arranged on it, in addition to the voluminous French sleeves. The author has focused the light on the woman's face, using resources such as the neutral background and the darkness of the dress, on which the lady's pearly skin stands out. Her skin is almost devoid of adornment, except for the elegant and austere pearl necklace. The woman, who rests one of her arms comfortably on a red velvet cushion, faces the viewer, looking directly at him. This attitude, together with the gesture of the face with a faint smile on her face, is a psychological portrait, in which the author was not trying to recreate the appearance of the protagonist, but rather the character of the person.
In the 18th century, the panorama of European portraiture was varied and broad, with numerous influences and largely determined by the taste of both the clientele and the painter himself. However, in this century a new concept of portraiture was born, which would evolve throughout the century and unify all the national schools: the desire to capture the personality of the human being and his character, beyond his external reality and his social rank, in his effigy. During the previous century, portraiture had become consolidated among the upper classes, and was no longer reserved only for the court. For this reason, the formulas of the genre, as the 17th century progressed and even more so in the 18th century, became more relaxed and moved away from the ostentatious and symbolic official representations typical of the Baroque apparatus. On the other hand, the eighteenth century will react against the rigid etiquette of the previous century with a more human and individual conception of life, and this will be reflected in all areas, from the furniture that becomes smaller and more comfortable, replacing the large gilded and carved furniture, to the portrait itself, which will come to dispense, as we see here, of any scenographic element to capture the individual instead of the character.