Portrait of Livia de Lanchi

The layout of the painting, with the lady seated,
adheres to models of formal portraiture typical of the early sixteenth century,
but the naturalism of the composition and the elegance of the figure enable the
canvas to be situated in the context of Lombardy and, in particular, to be
attributed to sisters Europa and Lucia Anguissola. Critics favour its attribution to Europa, but with
reservations given the scarce evidence of her portraiture.  The portrait makes no attempt at psychological
characterisation, but the great attention paid to rendering the garments
suggests that the artist has focused above all on representing the social
status of the sitter.