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