Style of Domenico Ghirlandaio, Costanza Caetani

Despite the poor condition of this picture – there is a broad network of cracks running across the entire paint surface – it is still possible to read its details. The Latin inscription identifies the woman as Costanza de‘ Medici , the wife of an important Florentine citizen of the Caetani family. This was clearly made to celebrate their marriage: she holds a sprig of orange blossom, which was associated with chastity and was traditionally worn by brides and wives.

The jewellery on the ledge may have been part of the ’counter-dowry', the gifts given by the groom. There is a ruby necklace finished off with three pearls, symbols of purity. The three rings on a bolster – one topped with a single pearl – also refer to marriage. The gold pins and the needle are an expression of her domestic skills. Records show that Costanza de Medici was born in about 1469 and was married by 1489; the picture was probably made around this time. She wears a gamurra, a square-necked dress, with a laced bodice and sleeves, covered by a coverciere, a silk shoulder covering which came into use after 1464 as part of a law regulating dress codes. The white cap was worn only by married women.

Two windows on either side of Constanza’s head give a view onto hills studded with mature trees; you can just make out mountains in the distance. The custom of setting portraits against a landscape background derived from Netherlandish portraiture and by the late fifteenth century it had become commonplace in Italy.

The style of dress seen here, fashionable in the 1480s and 1490s, is also found in Portrait of a Girl, which was made in made in the workshop of the Florentine artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. The painting belongs to a group of portraits which are close in style to those produced by Ghirlandaio and his workshop, but the individual artist cannot be identified. Some of these paintings include the sitter’s hands and a landscape, while others, like Portrait of a Girl, do not include the hands and have a plain dark background. This work has in the past been attributed to the young Fra Bartolommeo, when he was much influenced by Domenico Ghirlandaio.