Portrait of Bianca Maria Visconti
Bernardino Luini·1550
Historical Context
Portrait of Bianca Maria Visconti from 1550 is attributed to Bernardino Luini though the date falls after his death. The portrait may depict the fifteenth-century Duchess of Milan retrospectively, or it may be a later work by his workshop using the master's style for a historical portrait. Oil on canvas — by the sixteenth century the dominant medium for ambitious works — allowed successive glazes of transparent color and freedom to rework the composition.
Technical Analysis
The formal portrait renders the duchess with aristocratic dignity in the Lombard manner, combining careful costume detail with the soft facial modeling of the Luini school.
