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Portrait of a Young Lady

Federico BarocciAbout 1600

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst
Copenhagen, Denmark

The aristocratic female figure stands luminous and cool against a dark background, turning her head towards us, looking down at the spectators whose gazes begin at the elegantly interlaced hands and are led upwards along the arms to the expressive eyes.

The painting's composition

The white silk dress shines like mother-of-pearl. The gold necklace echoes the oval formed by the arms, accentuates the curves of the bosom and slides behind the soft semi-transparent ruff that surrounds the face like leaves around a dewy bud.

The painting's mournfeel feel

The facial expression is surprisingly lifelike, dreamy, ethereal yet present. Her smile has a slightly mournful feel to it, an effect Barocci achieved by blurring the contours, the corners of the eyes and the mouth with soft colours letting one shape merge into another.

X-ray photography shows that Barocci very deliberately worked his way out of what was originally a more well-defined and static face towards the changeable, indefinable expression we see today.

We do not know who the model was. The style of the painting suggests that it was painted around 1600.

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  • Title: Portrait of a Young Lady
  • Creator: Federico Barocci
  • Creator Lifespan: 1528 Urbino - 1612 Urbino
  • Creator Nationality: Italian
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Urbino
  • Creator Birth Place: Urbino
  • Date Created: About 1600
  • Værktekst: Den aristokratiske kvindefigur står lysende sval på en mørk baggrund, hendes drejning tiltager opadtil, og hun ser ned på beskueren, hvis blik begynder ved de elegant sammenflettede hænder og ledes op langs armene imod hendes udtryksfulde øjne. Maleriets komposition Den hvide silkekjole skinner som perlemor. Guldhalskæden gentager armenes oval, understreger barmens kurver og glider om bag den blødt krusede, halvt gennemsigtige, pibekrave, der omgiver ansigtet som løvet omkring en dugfrisk blomsterknop. Ansigtsudtrykket er forbavsende levende, drømmende, æterisk og dog nærværende. Der er et strejf af sørgmodighed i hendes smil. Den sørgmodige effekt Den effekt har Barocci opnået ved at sløre omridsene, øjenkrogene og mundvigene med bløde farver, der lader den ene form smelte over i den anden. Røntgenoptagelser viser, at Barocci arbejdede meget bevidst bort fra et oprindeligt mere veldefineret og statisk ansigt frem imod det foranderligt udefinerbare udtryk, som vi nu ser. Vi ved ikke, hvem portrættet forestiller. Det dateres af stilistiske grunde til omkring 1600.
  • Teknik: Olie på lærred
  • Proveniens: Køb 1744
  • Provenance: Acquired 1744
  • Physical Dimensions: w83 x h119.5 cm (Without frame)
  • Dansk link: http://www.smk.dk/index.php?id=1132
  • Dansk Titel: Portræt af ung dame
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Statens Museum for Kunst, http://www.smk.dk/en/copyright/creative-commons/
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

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