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Portrait of Countess Livia da Porto Thiene and her Daughter Porzia

Paolo Veronese (Italian, 1528-1588)

ca. 1551 (Renaissance)

oil on canvas

Painted surface H including addition across bottom: 82 1/16 x W: 47 5/8 in. (208.4 x 121 cm)

Description
Veronese's majestic, full-length portrait of the countess and her daughter was originally accompanied by one of her husband Count Issepo (Giuseppe) da Porto and their son Adriano (now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence). These paintings were most likely installed in their palace in Vicenza, which had recently been built by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). The portraits would have been placed so that it would appear as if the family were standing in niches inside the palace; however, the floor strip below is a later addition. Veronese was famous for his use of color and mastered the rendering of luxurious textures and fabrics, including the marten's fur. The head of gold and enamel is nearly identical to one in the Walters' collection (57.1982). Marten fur was thought to protect women in childbirth, and the countess was apparently pregnant in 1551.

For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 279, pp. 406-408.
Additional Information

Acquired by Henry Walters, 1921

37.541

Charles Street: Third Floor: 16th Century Art

Venetian

Venice, Italy


Provenance

Private collection, Vicenza [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Paolo Paolini, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1921 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

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