Catalogue note
this refined portrait of a member of the florentine patriciate was painted by alessandro allori and his workshop probably during the 1550s, when this style of coiffure and dress was in vogue. The elegant sitter wears a red velvet dress over a white shift ornamented with straps of gold filigree. The pearl necklace and complementary headdress served as tangible symbols of her wealth and status. The painting is likely an adaptation of a three-quarter-length, seated portrait of the sitter, one version of which is in paris (musée du louvre, inv. No. Mnr 800) while another is untraced since world war ii (previously kyiv, nationalmuseum, inv. No. 6057). The original, erroneously identified as depicting eleanora di toledo in the past, may have been conceived as a pendant to a portrait depicting the sitter's husband. Among those artists working closely with allori at that time was giovanni maria butteri (florence circa 1540-1606 or 1608), who may have participated in the execution of this refined portrait. Like allori, butteri trained under agnolo bronzino, and the two younger painters remained associates and collaborators throughout their careers. The hard edges of the sitter's features, as well as the geometric rendering of her visage, are hallmarks of butteri's style. We are grateful to adriana concin for her assistance cataloguing this lot. ". Date: 16th century. Dimensions: height: 45.7 cm (17.9 in); width: 33 cm (12.9 in). Medium: oil on panel. Collection: Unidentified location. Alessandro Allori - Portrait of a Florentine noblewoman, bust-length
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