Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530)
Ritratto di donna (Portrait of a Woman)
c.1514
Oil on panel, 73 x 56 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
This half-length portrait of an anonymous woman is traditionally though to be of the painter’s wife, Lucrecia del Fede, who he married in 1518. While there are no conclusive arguments in that regard, the interpretation has led some scholars to date this work from just before the wedding. Andrea del Sarto studied in his native city with Piero de Cosimo and Raffaellino del Garbo, but he was soon drawn to the work of Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, as well as that of Fra Bartholommeo. The composition is derived from female portraits painted by Raphael during his period in Florence between 1504 and 1508. An early copy of this portrait with nearly matching dimensions is kept at the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo (inv. no. 1187, oil on panel, 71 x 50 cm). This painting entered the Prado Museum in 1819. (MNP)
See also:
• Fede, Lucrezia del (c.1490-?)