Portrait of Lucrezia Bentivoglio Leoni

The painting can be dated to 1589 thanks to the inscription under the Bentivoglio Leoni coat of arms. An inscription on the back of the canvas also made it possible to identify the subject as Lucrezia Bentivoglio Leoni, a noble lady from Bologna who died only three years after the portrait was painted. The painter Ludovico Carracci, here in the most experimental phase of his career, manages to convey the psychological traits of the subject within the strict parameters of state portait etiquette.