Portrait of a Noblewoman

The relief, regarded as one of the outstanding portraits of the quattrocento, depicts an unknown noblewoman. The work is now housed by the Bargello Museum in Florence. There have been several attempts to identify the fashionably dressed young lady, who is portrayed in profile. Yet, notwithstanding the heraldic or emblematic references — a stirrup, the letter “C”, and a radiant sun — on the hem of the woman’s coat, there is still no consensus on her identity. All that is known is on its inclusion in the collection of the chapterhouse of Lucca Cathedral, the work was recorded as a portrait of the famous Matilda of Tuscany (1046—1115).