Portrait of a Woman

ca. 1480
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 602

Portraits of young women were often made to commemorate their marriages. The profile format was popular for this genre, as it highlighted the beauty of the woman’s features while also keeping her gaze chastely averted from the viewer. Piero and his brother Antonio del Pollaiuolo produced some of the most distinguished portraits of women in fifteenth-century Florence.

The meticulously rendered dress and jewelry of this sitter suggest Piero’s interest in Flemish art and his appreciation of the craft of goldsmithing, which he and his brother also specialized in.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of a Woman
  • Artist: Piero del Pollaiuolo (Piero di Jacopo Benci) (Italian, Florence 1441/42–1485/96 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1480
  • Medium: Tempera on wood
  • Dimensions: 19 1/4 x 13 7/8 in. (48.9 x 35.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Edward S. Harkness, 1940
  • Object Number: 50.135.3
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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