Critics have proposed that the woman portrayed here is the artist Properzia de’ Rossi, a well-known sculptor from Bologna who was active in that city during the first three decades of the 1500s. However, the presence of a small book and the complete absence of any attributes connected to her profession cast doubt on this theory. The panel, probably executed around the mid-sixteenth century, displays evident stylistic features characteristic of the Bolognese school. Longhi (1928), however, described it as a “very feeble Roman painting”, dating it to around 1550.
Rome, Borghese Collection, before 1902. Purchased by Italian state, 1902.
Conservation and Diagnostic
1903 - Luigi Bartolucci (pest control)
Commentary
The history of this portrait remains largely unknown to this day. As noted by Paola Della Pergola (1955), the painting entered the state collections in 1902, following the acquisition of the Borghese collection. At that time, it replaced another work considered to be of greater value, possibly a portrait of the Raphael school, as suggested by a label inscribed “Scuola di Raffaello,” visible in a period photograph by Moscioni (Longhi 1928). According to Longhi, this label was most likely associated with the painting originally held in the collection.
The woman depicted has been identified as the Bolognese sculptor Properzia de’ Rossi (Della Pergola 1955). This identification is grounded in a comparison with an engraving by Giovanni Battista Cecchi, published in 1772 in the Serie degli Uomini Illustri (Vol. V, p. 181), which, in turn reproduces the likeness of the artist as it appeared in Giorgio Vasari’s 1568 edition of the Vite [Lives]. This visual lineage provides a crucial point of reference for the sitter’s identification.
The panel, probably executed around the mid-sixteenth century, displays evident stylistic features characteristic of the Bolognese school. Longhi (1928), however, described it as a “very feeble Roman painting”, dating it to around 1550.
R. Longhi, Precisioni nelle Gallerie Italiane, I, La R. Galleria Borghese, Roma 1928, p. 183;
P. della Pergola, La Galleria Borghese. I Dipinti, I, Roma 1955, p. 142, n. 254;
K. Herrmann Fiore, Galleria Borghese Roma scopre un tesoro. Dalla pinacoteca ai depositi un museo che non ha più segreti, San Giuliano Milanese 2006, p. 28.
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