Portrait of a Lady

This 1540 portrait of a lady dates from Sebastiano's later career, after receiving the papal office of the Piombo. His late female portraits are fewer in number but maintain the rich coloristic tradition and dignified composure that characterized his earlier work. Sebastiano's late female portraits maintain the rich coloristic tradition he absorbed from Giorgione in Venice before his move to Rome in 1511, combining Venetian warmth with the Central Italian monumentality he developed under Michelangelo's influence.

The portrait shows Sebastiano's late style with simplified forms and a deep, tonal palette, demonstrating his continued mastery of portraiture even as his overall production decreased.