Portrait of a Noblewoman
Matteo Civitali, Giuseppe Lelli (cast maker)
- Artist
-
Matteo Civitali
Lucca 1436 – 1501 Lucca
Giuseppe Lelli
(cast maker)
Firenze
- Dated
- ca. 1490—1495 (original), 1907 (cast)
- Classification
- relief, plaster cast
- Medium
- plaster cast
- Dimensions
- 79 × 65 × 15 cm
- Inv.no.
- Rg.219
- Department
- Sculptures - Plaster casts
- Current Location of the Original Artwork
- Italy, Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello
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).