Italian (Florentine)
late 15th century
Profile portrait of a lady
c.1475
tempera and oil on wood panel
42.9 x 29.6 cm
Felton Bequest 1946
1541-4

The profile portrait in both painting and low relief sculpture became a major art form in fifteenth-century Florence. The genre was inspired by the depiction of heads on the coins and gems of classical antiquity, adapted with the high fashions of the time and stylised to appeal to the taste of the period. The portraits were often produced to record a likeness of the sitter, to be passed on to a potential suitor, or kept for commemorative purposes.

Attribution is problematic due to the popularity and prolific production of such works, although this example is of exceptional quality, indicating that it is by an experienced and talented artist. Dating the work is equally problematic and the early date of 1450 has been proposed. .

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