This painting is a portrait of a seated woman, her body turned slightly to the right and her head looking towards us. She has a fair complexion, with round, rosy cheeks, pale eyebrows, large green eyes, and thin pink lips in a neutral expression. Her light blonde hair is styled in short curls close to her head and adorned with pearls and a clip or barrette in the shape of small leaves. She is dressed in a cream-colored dress with intricate embroidery in shades of brown, gold, and black. On top of the dress is a long black garment that flows over her shoulders and upper arms and has a high collar, decorative buttons, and more embroidery. Her gown is paired with a ruffled white collar and lace at her neckline and wrists. Long gold chains drape across her chest, and she wears a pearl necklace around her neck and two small golden rings on her fingers. In her left hand, our right, she holds a small book, while a lace handkerchief is in her right hand, our left. She wears pearl earrings, strands of pearl bracelets, and a decorative brooch in the shape of a white dog with a pink bow. The seat she sits on is wooden with dark red cushions decorated with golden tassels and embroidery, behind her on the left is a draped green cloth, and on the right, a table is covered with music sheets, a stringed instrument, books, and small blue and yellow ribbons. The wall behind the table is brown, and there is some gold lettering in the top right corner.

Lucia Bonasoni Garzoni

Lavinia Fontana

This painting is a portrait of a seated woman, her body turned slightly to the right and her head looking towards us. She has a fair complexion, with round, rosy cheeks, pale eyebrows, large green eyes, and thin pink lips in a neutral expression. Her light blonde hair is styled in short curls close to her head and adorned with pearls and a clip or barrette in the shape of small leaves. She is dressed in a cream-colored dress with intricate embroidery in shades of brown, gold, and black. On top of the dress is a long black garment that flows over her shoulders and upper arms and has a high collar, decorative buttons, and more embroidery. Her gown is paired with a ruffled white collar and lace at her neckline and wrists. Long gold chains drape across her chest, and she wears a pearl necklace around her neck and two small golden rings on her fingers. In her left hand, our right, she holds a small book, while a lace handkerchief is in her right hand, our left. She wears pearl earrings, strands of pearl bracelets, and a decorative brooch in the shape of a white dog with a pink bow. The seat she sits on is wooden with dark red cushions decorated with golden tassels and embroidery, behind her on the left is a draped green cloth, and on the right, a table is covered with music sheets, a stringed instrument, books, and small blue and yellow ribbons. The wall behind the table is brown, and there is some gold lettering in the top right corner.

Colors in this work

Details
Artist
Lavinia Fontana
Date
c. 1590
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 113.5 × 87.5 cm (44 11/16 × 34 7/16 in.) framed: 149.54 × 126.68 × 8.89 cm (58 7/8 × 49 7/8 × 3 1/2 in.)
Department
CIS-R
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Palette

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Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Gift of Funds from Anonymous in memory of Montana Walker Strauss, and Patrons' Permanent Fund

Art Genome Taxonomy

9 tags

Subject Matter

  • Individual Portrait Both · 99%

    The image clearly presents one seated woman as the central subject, and the museum metadata identifies the work as a portrait titled “Lucia Bonasoni Garzoni.”

  • Related to Fashion Both · 96%

    The sitter’s elaborate embroidered dress, lace collar and cuffs, pearls, chains, and other adornments are visually prominent and described in the catalog.

  • Related to Music Both · 98%

    A stringed instrument and open musical scores are clearly visible on the table, and the catalog specifically describes music sheets and a stringed instrument.

Visual Qualities

  • Highly Detailed Visual · 98%

    The painting gives precise attention to the sitter’s face and hair, lace, embroidery, patterned textiles, jewelry, upholstery, wood, musical notation, and the objects on the table.

  • Dark Colors Visual · 96%

    Black garments and a dark green curtain dominate the composition, contrasted with pale fabrics, white lace, red upholstery, and gold ornament.

  • Patterns Visual · 95%

    Embroidery, lace, pearl strands, chains, tassels, upholstery ornament, and musical notation create repeated patterned surfaces throughout the composition.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The catalog identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

Time Periods

  • 16th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The museum dates the work to circa 1590, placing it in the sixteenth century.

Jewelry and Fashion Object Types

  • Brooches Both · 99%

    A small dog-shaped brooch is visibly attached to the sitter’s garment, and the catalog identifies the decorative brooch as being in the shape of a white dog with a pink bow.

Source & rights

Lavinia Fontana. Lucia Bonasoni Garzoni. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High-resolution sources

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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