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Portrait of Virginia de' Medici (1568-1615)
(Renaissance Europe )
The young woman portrayed here is Virginia de' Medici (1568-1615), daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo I of Tuscany. She is dressed in opulent clothes and sumptuous jewelry, indicating her status as a member of one of the wealthy, prominent families in Florence. Beside a pearl ensemble with a single-strand necklace of large pearls, matching earrings, and pearls woven into her hair, she wears a large collar with intricate gold segments decorated with pearls and gemstones. There are at least four versions of this portrait; one that is seemingly nearly identical in style to the Walters' portrait was on the market in 2016 and attributed to the Florentine painter Giovanni Maria Butteri (1540-1606), who worked with Alessandro Allori. Butteri's best known portrait is a group portrait dated 1574 of several members of the Medici family; the hard surfaces are very similar to those in the present painting.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Marquess Filippo Marignoli, Rome and Spoleto, until 1898 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Marquess Francesco Marignoli, 1898 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome, 1899 [mode of acquisition unknown] [1900 catalogue supplement: no. 40, as Bronzino]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2006-2009 | Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Panel H including added strips: 18 1/4 x W: 16 1/4 x D excluding cradle: 3/8 in. (46.3 x 41.3 x 1 cm); Original painted surface H: 17 1/8 x W: 13 3/4 in. (43.5 x 35 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1112