Portrait of a Lady

Antonio del Pollaiuolo's Portrait of a Lady, painted around 1475 and now in the Uffizi, Florence, is one of the finest female profile portraits of the Florentine Renaissance. The sitter, wearing an elaborate hairstyle with pearls and a rich brocade dress, is depicted in the profile format derived from classical coins and medals. The portrait type served both as a record of beauty and as a statement of family wealth and social status in 15th-century Florence.

Pollaiuolo renders the profile with characteristic precision, with the pearls, embroidered necklace, and brocade fabric depicted with the goldsmith's eye for luxury materials that reflects his training in the decorative arts.