Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
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Title:
Portrait of a Woman
Creator:
Botticelli, Sandro, painter
Description:
A woman stands, bust-length, in three-quarter profile inside a domestic space. According to a later inscription on the window frame, the sitter is Smeralda Bandinelli, wife of Viviano Bandinelli and supposed grandmother of the 16th-century sculptor, Baccio Bandinelli (1488-1560). The column in the left background refers to her status as a married woman, as it symbolized fortitude and constancy--virtues that were of the utmost importance for wives. While this work follows some of the conventions of portraiture, Smerelda, though beautiful, is not merely an object to be admired; she has been captured in the midst of moving about her home, lending a greater sense of personality to the subject and an air of immediacy to the work overall. The Victoria and Albert Museum website referenced in this record describes her dress: "She wears a summer at-home costume comprising a white silk or linen camisa generously cut as the many folds at the neck and sleeves show; a 'cotta' of red silk, slit and laced fashionably at the forearms to reveal the 'camisa'; and, overall, a 'gonella' or summer overgown of sheer gold edged fabric with loose cuffs and open from the waist to show the silk beneath."
Source:
WikiMedia Commons
Rights:
Public domain
Subject
(See Also)
:
Domestic Space
Portraits
Windows
Geographic Area:
Italy
Century:
15
Date:
circa 1470-1475
Related Work:
Current Location:
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, CAI.100
Original Location:
Artistic Type (Category):
Digital images; Paintings
Artistic Type (Material/Technique):
Panel paintings; Oil tempera; Wood
Donor:
Height/Width/Length(cm):
65.7cm/41cm/
Inscription:
Related Resources:
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, CAI.100