Portrait of a Gentlewoman

We do not know the name or the background of this gentlewoman who is posing in front of a brown backdrop that lacks any clues to the environment to help us to determine her identity. The luxury of her attire, with the low-cut blue dress, sophisticated lace edging and fur collar fastened at the right shoulder with a large brooch, means that she is certainly of the aristocratic class. She was probably from the Republic of Genoa or the State of Milan, given that the painter who painted the portrait, Alessandro Magnasco, was working mainly in these two places at the time. The abundant veil of powder covering her hair, in accordance with the dictates of fashion of the early 18th century, should not mislead us about her age, as she does appears to only just be into full adulthood. Magnasco chose to go against the grain to adopt a style free from rhetorical excess and faith to reality. The virtuoso application of the paint and the realistic approach are characteristic features of Magnasco’s pictorial language and his view
of the world. (P. Vanoli)