An Unknown Lady

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

The identity of this woman has not yet been established. It is not yet clear where Zuccaro painted this portrait; he worked in Italy, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and England, and produced works for some of the most prominent individuals and institutions in sixteenth-century Europe. 

Federico Zuccaro was born in the Marches, Italy. From the age of ten, he worked in his brother Taddeo’s studio in Rome. He later moved to Venice and then Florence, becoming a member of the Accademia del Disegno. He returned to Rome after Taddeo’s death. After a spell in Paris, he visited London in 1575 and was introduced to the court of Elizabeth I. His drawings of Dudley and Elizabeth are in the British Museum. He later completed the frescoes in the Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, which were previously started by Giorgio Vasari. In 1579, he worked for Pope Gregory XIII’s on the frescoes in the Pauline chapel in the Vatican. He was expelled from Rome for displaying a satirical image. He worked in Venice and Spain, before becoming first principal of the Accademia di San Luca. In his final years he wrote ‘L’idea de’ scultori, pittori e architetti’ (1607).

People

unknown woman

Places

Subjects

book, female portrait, Renaissance, apple, woman, 16th century costume, ring, ruff, bracelet, necklace, tassel, badge, coat of arms, cross, table cloth

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Federico Zuccaro (1540 - 1609)

Title

An Unknown Lady

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 104.00 cm, width: 86.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Christie's, January 1947

Provenance

Collection of ‘Mrs Frances Raitt’; by whom sold through Christie’s, London, on 17 January 1947 (Lot 61); from which sale purchased by ‘Wingrove’ on behalf of the Ministry of Works

GAC number

281