Portrait of a Lady (Veronica Gambara)

In a pastoral setting of a symbolic laurel and a changeable blue sky, the poet is placed in the imaginary domain of her works. With a half-smile, she turns toward the viewer from her three-quarter pose, apparently seated on the grass or perhaps a log out of view. With dramatically bloused white sleeves and a contrasting black velvet overdress that exposes a smooth expanse of her shoulders, the lady is fashionable, attractive, and modest with no hint of décolletage. Her braided hairnet secured with a jewel marks her as a woman of means, noble bearing, and is perhaps an allusion to her great intellect – other women with exceptional knowledge and creative talent were sometimes depicted with wild hair or turbans to express their genius.

It has been suggested that the sitter is Veronica Gambara, who was widowed in 1518. Details suggesting marital loss include the black overdress, the inscription on the silver chalice alluding to sorrow and memory, and the ivy, symbolic of fidelity and undying love [1]. Upon her husband's death, Gambara became the ruler of the court of Correggio, where she developed a thriving literary salon and produced poetry of her own.

[1] “Portrait of a Lady,” Hermitage Art Museum, accessed October 2, 2020. https://www.arthermitage.org/Correggio/Portrait-of-a-Lady.html

• Adani, Giuseppe. Correggio pittore universale. Cinisello Balsamo: Silvano, 2007.
• Hermitage Art Museum. “Portrait of a Lady.” Accessed October 2, 2020. https://www.arthermitage.org/Correggio/Portrait-of-a-Lady.html
• Lucco, Mauro. Mantegna a Mantova 1460-1506. Milan: Skira, 2006.
  
  Image Source: Hermitage Art Museum