Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Title: Portrait of a Woman
Creator: Veneziano, Jacometto, artist
Description: A woman sits in three-quarter profile. She has a voluptuous form, and her decolletage is visible. Her cheeks have been rouged, she possesses an unflattering double chin, and her red hair appears close-cropped underneath a wrap of yellow (the color of shame). This sitter breaks with traditional notions of idealized virtuous beauty. The woman is very likely a Venetian prostitute.
Source: WikiMedia Commons
Rights: Public domain
Subject (See Also): Classical Influences Portraits Prostitutes Yellow - Color of Shame
Geographic Area: Italy
Century: 15
Date: 1470s
Related Work: Reverse bears Latin inscription, "V LLLL F DELITIIS ANIMUM EXPLE POST MORTEM NULLA VOLUPTAS" [Satisfy the soul with delights for after death there is no pleasure] and image of a strawberry: http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/101997.html?mulR
Current Location: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Cat. 243
Original Location:
Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Paintings
Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Panel paintings; Oil
Donor:
Height/Width/Length(cm): 34cm/27.5cm/
Inscription:
Related Resources: Knauer, Elfriede Regina. "Portrait of a Lady? Some Reflections on Images of Prostitutes from the Later Fifteenth Century." Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 47 (2002): 95-117.