Presumed Portrait of Clarice Orsini, Wife of Lorenzo the Magnificent

Domenico Ghirlandaio painted this presumed portrait of Clarice Orsini, wife of Lorenzo de' Medici, around 1490. Clarice, a Roman noblewoman, married Lorenzo in 1469 in a match that allied Florence's leading family with Roman papal aristocracy. Ghirlandaio's portraits of the Medici circle document the appearance of Florence's ruling elite during the golden age of the Renaissance. Ghirlandaio was the preeminent fresco painter in late fifteenth-century Florence, running a highly efficient workshop that completed major commissions for Florentine churches and the Sistine Chapel.

Tempera on panel with Ghirlandaio's characteristic clean drawing and clear coloring. The sitter's features and costume are rendered with the descriptive precision typical of Florentine portrait painting.