Reclining woman in a Landscape

Representations of idealised semi-nude women in a landscape were popular in Renaissance Venice. One of the city’s leading painters, Palma Vecchio specialised in this type of imagery. This particular composition was highly successful and reused several times. This work, however, was never completed and appears in the inventory of Palma’s studio after his death.

While the woman and the foreground are carefully modelled, the sky is barely sketched out and the rocky mount is a mere silhouette.