Portrait of a Noblewoman

1594 · Private collection

portrait

The witty conceit of painting a picture within a picture has been splendidly adopted by Pulzone for this portrait of a noblewoman. The trompe l'oeil curtain draped across the upper left corner of the canvas, alludes to a convention more typical of Renaissance portraiture, in which drapery was ofter depicted as a backdrop to the sitter and it may also refer to the custom of covering paintings with curtains. The curtain folds hang very convincingly over the canvas, casting a sharp shadow across the surface, and wrapping themselves around the tacked edge of the fictive unframed canvas.

About the Artist

Scipione Pulzone

1544 – 1598

Italian painter. He is thought to have been a pupil of Jacopino del Conte in Rome. His talent was already evident in his early portraits, such as Cardinal Ricci (1569; Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum) and Cardinal Santorio (or Cardinal Granvella, 1576; London, Courtauld Institute Galleries). He was influenced by Italian court portraiture, particularly that of Raphael, and also by Flemish stylistic traits, which he must have absorbed through seeing the works (untraced) left in Rome by Antonis Mor. His brilliant palette was further enriched through contact with Venetian painting. The naturalism of the early portraits sets them apart from Mannerist portraiture; the careful rendering of details of physiognomy and dress was as important to Pulzone as expressing the personality of his sitter.

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