My thought is that this could be a portrait of the patron. This
representation could be religious (though I cannot recall the Madonna
being pictured apart from the infant Jesus with a bare breast), or,
perhaps more likely, a figure from antiquity (Cleopatra, as another
respondent has suggested). The patron being depicted in a guise of
this sort would have served to represent her piety or learnedness.
(Not to mention vanity!)
It was common in medieval, and especially early Renaissance painting,
for patrons to have portraits of themselves placed in a religious
context. Most commonly, this would be in a work picturing, for
example, the Visitation, and the patron would be pictured kneeling at
the edge of the scene. But in these instances, the patrons were
pictured as themselves, worshippers, not as religious figures.
That's my best guess.
Angelina Altobellis
Development Officer, The University of Mississippi
and future archivist
On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 15:38:21 -0800, Stan Shiebert <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Can anyone identify this painting? Woman with one bare breast and pearls in her hair. In the background, scenes of rural medieval life. Patron says not a madonna, but she could be wrong about that.
> Thanks for any help you can send our way.
> Stan
>
> Stan Shiebert
> Librarian
> Arts, Recreation & Literature Department
> Seattle Public Library
> TEL: 206-386-4613
> FAX: 206-386-4616
> [log in to unmask]
>
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__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
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