Portrait of a Lady as Saint Agnes
Paolo Veronese·1580
Historical Context
Portrait of a Lady as Saint Agnes from around 1580 at Houston combines portraiture with hagiographic imagery, depicting a real woman in the guise of the virgin martyr. This genre of disguised portraiture was common in Venice, allowing patrons to identify with their patron saints. The disguised portrait format, in which a real woman is depicted as a virgin martyr, connected the patron's own virtue to the exemplary purity of a saint through a form of artistic analogy.
Technical Analysis
The portrait-devotional hybrid presents the sitter with Agnes's attribute of the lamb. Veronese's luminous palette and refined handling of the costume create an image that is both personal portrait and devotional icon.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the elaborate costume and jeweled details that project the sitter's elevated social position in the Venetian aristocratic tradition.
_The_Prophet_Ezekiel_by_Paolo_Veronese_-_gallerie_Accademia_Venice.jpg&width=600)
