Terms and conditions of use
Portrait of a young girl
(c. 1575-1579)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
50.0 × 34.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bequest of Howard Spensley, 1939
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
This study of a young girl relates to Federico Barocci’s spectacular altarpiece, the Madonna del Popolo, 1575–79, now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. The child’s features appear in an angel prominently seated to the left of Christ. Working drawings for the altarpiece indicate that Barocci initially conceived this figure as a boy holding a trumpet, but changed his mind and substituted this likeness of a young female. Intriguingly, the distinctive jewel in the girl’s headpiece here is worn by one of the adult women in the lower half of the painting in Florence. It also appears in other works by Barocci, so was probably a studio prop.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
553-4
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Human Figures Portraits
Subjects (specific)
busts (general, figures) children (people by age group) girls three-quarter views