Portrait of a Young Woman
Giuliano Bugiardini·c. 1525
Historical Context
Giuliano Bugiardini painted this portrait of a young woman around 1525, reflecting the Florentine tradition of idealized female portraiture. Bugiardini was a friend of Michelangelo and a pupil of Ghirlandaio, though he never achieved the fame of his more gifted contemporaries. His portraits of women follow the conventions established by Raphael and Andrea del Sarto, presenting their subjects with gentle idealization and warm, harmonious coloring.
Technical Analysis
The oil on canvas shows Bugiardini's smooth, polished technique with careful modeling of the face in warm flesh tones. The gentle sfumato and balanced composition reflect the influence of Raphael and Leonardo, applied with the competent but somewhat conventional approach that characterized Bugiardini's work.
Provenance
(Charles Fairfax Murray [1849-1919], London and Florence).[1] (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi [1878-1955], Rome);[2] sold 1929 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1939 to NGA. [1] According to Kress records in NGA curatorial files. The painting was not included in sales from Fairfax Murray's estate held at Christie's, London, 30 January - 2 February 1920; Sotheby's, London, 10 May 1922; Cassirer & Helbing, Berlin, 6-7 November 1929; see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1724. [2] According to L. Venturi, _Italian Paintings in America_, New York, 1933, Vol. III, plate 451.
