Portrait of lady with son

Bernardino Licinio's double portrait of a lady with her son is a fine example of the domestic portrait tradition that flourished in Venice during the first half of the sixteenth century. Such works served to affirm familial continuity and social standing. Licinio was particularly skilled at capturing intimate human relationships within the formal conventions of portraiture, and his handling of the bond between mother and child gives the work an emotional warmth unusual for the genre.

The two figures are tightly grouped, the mother's gaze directed outward while the child looks toward her. Dark ground isolates the pair, focusing attention on faces and hands. Licinio's characteristic precision in rendering fabric — the sheen of silk against the matte ground — gives the work material richness.