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World Of Art By Sue

@worldofartbysue.bsky.social

970 followers 2.2K following 840 posts

History of Art for everyone (themes change monthly)! Other interests include: world history, genealogy, books, photography, gardening, (US) football and dinosaurs. Life goal: to learn something new every day. Degree in Art History from McGill University

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · Nov 14

Hello, Blue Skyers! My account is to bring the joy and beauty of Art to everyone, along with a little background info on each piece featured. I look forward to connecting with you here in the civilized space that is Blue Sky! ~ Sue

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 23h

#AlphabetChallenge
#WeekQforQuiet
#Paris
The crypt at St. Denis basilica, Paris, France-

The crypt at the royal basilica of St. Denis, with (battery operated) candles and a soft purple lighting. The sarcophagi hold or held the bodies of deceased monks associated with the abbey. The basiica is where many of the medieval (and some more recent) kings and queens of France are buried - or at least their effigies/tombs are there (the church was ransacked during the French Revolution).

Reposted by World Of Art By Sue

🅢🅗🅔🅔🅝🅐 @sheena-mck.bsky.social · 1d

Attention Alphabetters!
Mon 20 Oct is the start of Week Q and the theme for the #AlphabetChallenge is Quiet. Any pic that conveys peace and quiet. Not very inventive, exciting, or original I know, but it’s Q- did you really want quantum physics or quinoa 🤷😂? Use the # below and have fun😊

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 1d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
FRANÇOIS GÉRARD (1770 - 1837), “Portrait of Marie Walewska”, 1810. Army Museum, Paris, France.
Marie was a Polish noblewoman at Napoleon’s court, where she worked to get the French Emperor’s support for Polish independence from Prussia.
#arthistory #art #france

Countess Walewska is perhaps best remembered for her affair with Napoleon, which resulted in the birth of a son, Alexandre. François Gérard was a student of the French Neoclassical master, Jacques-Louis David; he became the court painter during Napoleon’s First French Empire and later was the official painter for Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X. Gérard was immensely popular and became rich and famous from his portraits. In this portrait, Countess Walewska wears a black velvet gown fashioned in the Empire style, with a high waistline and a close-fitted bodice with a squared neckline and short puffed sleeves. The gown is adorned with a heavy gold fringe along the bottom and a beautiful gold belt that encircles her torso and sweeps in an eye-catching vertical line towards the floor. The Countess is presented with a calm dignity.

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 1d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
ROBERT LEFÈVRE (1755 – 1830), “Princess Pauline Borghese”, 1806. Palace of Versailles, France.
#arthistory #art #portrait #France

ROBERT LEFÈVRE (1755 – 1830), “Princess Pauline Borghese”, 1806. Palace of Versailles, France.
Lefèvre painted multiple portrait of Napoleon’s favorite sister, Pauline, including this full-length one in a beautiful neoclassical gown typical of the Empire period. She rests her hand on a table featuring a large bust of her brother. Her gown has a high waistline (“Empire” waist) with the skirt falling straight to the floor, recalling classical antiquity. White – a symbol of virtue and refinement - was the preferred dress color in Napoleon’s court. She wears a tiara or diadem and is awash in precious jewels and golden embellishments, such as the fringe at the base of her gown and embroidery throughout. Her overdress has puffed short sleeves over long sleeves or sleeve-attachments. Lefèvre was greatly influenced by the great French Neoclassic artist Jacques-Louis David.

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 2d

#BlueSkyArtShow
#Vertical #Spain
2025 Festa Mercé gegants parading and dancing through the streets of Barcelona

Festa Mercé gegants - oversized, papier maché "puppets" with human handlers inside - parade and dance through the streets of Barcelona in September 2025.

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 2d

#BlueSkyArtShow
#Vertical #Spain
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

An interior photo of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, looking up towards the ceiling of the nave with the Evangelists' columns (the pink ones) made of porphyry. You can see why the interior is also called "the stone forest".

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Reposted by World Of Art By Sue

𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 @churchstreetimages.com · 8d

Join the #BlueSkyArtShow
Saturday October 18, 2025
The theme is #Vertical

Any art, any interpretation
Use both tags to be
included in our feed.
Multiple entries welcome

More details in the comments

#photography #drawing #painting #sketching #writing #poetry #watercolor

Photo of a seagull on a post with text over it reading
Join the #BlueSkyArtShow
Saturday October 18, 2025
The theme is #Vertical
Any Art
Any interpretation
Use both tags to be included in our feed.
Multiple entries welcome

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 2d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
FRANCISCO GOYA (1746 – 1828), “Majas on a Balcony”, 1800-12. Private collection.
Goya probably painted this scene of two young women, seated on a balcony with male companions in the shadows, for himself rather than as a commission.
#arthistory #art #spain

The composition is unusual, with the railing of the balcony effectively dividing the canvas into two parts. The painting ended up in Paris for a while where it served as the inspiration for the 1868/9 painting “The Balcony” by Édouard Manet. Goya has dressed his ladies in fashionable Spanish gowns, with elegant lace mantillas on their heads. Although the dresses are of fine quality, there is speculation that the women may be young prostitutes beckoning from a window balcony. Goya was famous for his satirical take on contemporary Spanish society so that attitude may be in play here. There is a second version of this painting, possibly by a follower of Goya, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 3d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
GILBERT STUART (1755 – 1828), “Matilda Stoughton de Jaudenes”, 1794. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City US.
#arthistory #art #portrait

GILBERT STUART (1755 – 1828), “Matilda Stoughton de Jaudenes”, 1794. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City US.
Gilbert Stuart was an American portraitist (an engraving of one of his portraits of George Washington is on the US dollar bill). Although he painted the portrait of Matilda Stoughton in New York City, Stuart had worked for about twenty years in England and this portrait has a definite English flair. The painting was made as a celebration of the 16-year old Matilda to Josef de Jaudenes, a Spanish official. Matilda’s English-style gown is a silk satin dress with small floral embroidered decoration and tight, fitted sleeves with delicate lace cuffs. She wears a gauzy silk wrap around her shoulders; her hair is powdered and topped with a very fancy headpiece adorned with feathers and rosettes. She also wears gold chains, a large locket, a brooch, tiered earrings and large bracelets on both wrists and holds a folded fan. The jewelry, in particular, is more than a fashionable American aristocrat would have worn at the time but it is right in line with what was appropriate for the wife of a Spanish diplomat.

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 5d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
ELISABETH VIGÉE LE BRUN (1755 - 1842), “Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress”, 1783. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City US.

When Le Brun included this portrait of Marie Antoinette, dressed in a simple muslin dress and straw hat, in her first Salon exhibition, she was asked to remove it because the Salon board deemed it inappropriately informal for a royal portrait. The Queen wore muslin dresses with her lady friends at the Queen’s Hamlet, a small village on the grounds of Versailles, where the women would unwind and pretend to be country folk. The gowns were made of fabric imported from India and were worn with a brightly colored ribbon tied at the natural waist and a wide straw hat decorated with feathers and ribbons; flounces decorated the neckline and sleeve cuffs. Although Le Brun’s portrait was chastised in 1783, the fashion quickly became acceptable a few years later and became all the rage by the end of the 18th century. The loose, unstructured dress must have been a welcomed change from the restrictive corseted gowns that came before it.

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 5d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (1703 - 1770), “Portrait of Madame de Pompadour”, 1756.
Alte Pinakotek, Munich, Germany.
#arthistory #art #portrait

In this portrait, Madame de Pompadour wears a French style open-front shimmering silk gown with a matching petticoat – the height of Rococo elegance. Both the gown and the petticoat are embellished with copious amounts of small pink roses, probably also made of silk. Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson became the new mistress of King Louis XV in 1745; the king bestowed upon her the title of Madame de Pompadour. By the time of Boucher’s 1756 portrait, she was no longer the king’s mistress but had transitioned to his confidante and advisor. Boucher painted twelve flattering portraits of Pompadour over the course of their collaboration; he presented her as lovely but also as intelligent and loyal (in this portrait, her spaniel pup, Inés, attests to her faithfulness) and always dressed in the latest fashions (look at her fabulous pink shoes!). Boucher paints her as the epitome of elegance and grace. Pompadour’s support of Boucher helped him to become the leading decorative painter of his time.

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 7d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727 – 1788), “Portrait of the Artist with his Wife and Daughter”, c. 1748. National Gallery, London UK.
Gainsborough’s first known self-portrait, and the only selfie he ever painted that included his family.
#arthistory #art #portrait

I find this painting interesting because it lacks the sophistication of Gainsborough's later portraits and therefore is an example of an artist still mastering his craft. I also like it because it answers the question “how the heck did women sit in those wide dresses?” The answer is: they sat very awkwardly, as we can see from Margaret Gainsborough’s position. Margaret’s gown consists of a whaleboned bodice, which keeps her very upright from the waist up, over a skirt with multiple layers of petticoats, which causes the dress material (probably silk or taffeta) to balloon around her as she perches uncomfortably next to her husband and daughter. The dress itself is less formally structured that those we’ve seen from the Spanish court. The child is most likely the couple’s first daughter, Mary, who died early in 1748. Even in this early portrait, Gainsborough uses color expertly (the lustrous blue of Margaret’s gown, the vibrant red of his own waistcoat), although the landscape in the background is rather vague (he will remedy this in subsequent paintings where his background landscapes shine). He originally had Margaret wearing a large floppy hat but he replaced this with a more closely fitted cap, which he has left unfinished. Also unfinished is Margaret’s left hand.

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 7d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
REMBRANDT (1606 – 1669), “The Jewish Bride”, c. 1667. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.The corrected title is “Portrait of a Couple as Isaac and Rebecca” but everyone still calls it “The Jewish Bride” anyway.
#arthistory #art #rembrandt

First off, the title “The Jewish Bride” is a nickname that was bestowed on Rembrandt’s painting in the 19th century: there is nothing in the painting to suggest that the couple depicted was Jewish (although Amsterdam had a large and prosperous Jewish population in Rembrandt’s time) nor that the rich crimson gown was a wedding dress. It is believed that the painting actually is a “historical portrait”, in which models are costumed as historical figures, depicting the love story of Isaac and Rebecca from the Bible. This was one of Rembrandt’s later paintings and its beauty later brought Vincent van Gogh to tears. Rembrandt has used every trick in the book to convey the luxury and texture of the fabrics of both the female and male outfits here. He has used thickly applied paint (“impasto”) so masterfully that the paint creates the light and shadow of the textile folds. He has scratched and scraped away paint in areas to create the lighter, finer fabrics. He used both a brush and a palette knife to vary the paint texture and application. “Historical portraits” were popular during the Dutch Golden Age, with the subjects wearing costumes that reflect an idea of historical fashions. This glorious red gown, with glimmering glints of gold embellishment, was not the contemporary fashion of Rembrandt’s time. Rembrandt painted this painting shortly after losing his own beloved wife, and his intense feelings infuse the canvas with a special intimacy. His loose, painterly handling of the clothing, with suggestions of details, is very different from the exactitude in many of the portraits we have been looking at so far this month.

Reposted by World Of Art By Sue

🅢🅗🅔🅔🅝🅐 @sheena-mck.bsky.social · 8d

Attention Alphabetters!
Mon 13 Oct is the start of Week P and the theme for the #AlphabetChallenge is Pink. Post anything you like as long as your pic has a pink subject/focal point. Baby, rose, shocking etc - all shades are good. So that’s it - just pink!
Use the # below and have fun😊

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 8d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
JUAN CARREÑO DE MIRANDA (1614 - 1685), “Inés de Zúñiga, Countess of Monterrey”, c. 1665. Museo de Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid, Spain.
Carreño succeeded Velázquez as the official Spanish court painter.
#arthistory #art #portrait

As the court painter, Carreño spent most of his time painting portraits of the royals and nobles. Inés de Zuñiga was a noblewoman who became the chief lady-in-waiting to the Spanish queen and the governess to the royal children. She was married to the Count-Duke of Olivares. Inés was about twenty years old when Carreño painted this portrait; she wears a black silk velvet gown with the popular Spanish guardainfanta wide skirt. The architectural skirt is worn with a structured bodice (probably stiff with whalebone stays) with elaborate sleeves and lace cuffs; her hair is adorned with fancy feathers. The style screams dignified elegance, even though in reality the woman was effectively immobilized when wearing it. The Spanish court was known for its sober etiquette, with black being a favorite color for gowns. Status and wealth were reflected in the luxury of the materials, such as the heavy velvet; jewelry was used sparingly (compare Inés’ adornment with one of the Italian or English portraits featured earlier this month). At her waist, on a pink ribbon, she has an odd little bag that is shaped like a pistol.

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 9d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ (1599 – 1660), “Infanta Margarita”, 1659. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
#arthistory #art #portrait #Velazquez

I’m very glad that I was not a noble or royal in the Spanish court in the 17th century because there is no way that I would be able to navigate life wearing the “guardainfante” – that amazing cage hip structure that was all the rage in Spain (I would not have done well as an antebellum Southern belle, either). The guardinfante was very controversial when it first appeared in the 1630s (not the least because it was rumored that the structure was used to camouflage secret pregnancies) but the ladies loved it so it became a very visible sign of rank with the width strictly court-regulated. Velázquez painted multiple portraits of the infanta Margarita; this one, in a glorious, blue silk dress with wide silver trim, was painted for the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I who was to marry the young Spanish princess. Margarita Teresa is 8 years old in this 1659 painting – one of Velázquez’ last paintings before he died in 1660 – and she married the Emperor (who also happened to be her uncle: don’t get me started on Habsburgs) when she turned 15. If she looks familiar, perhaps you recognize her from Velázquez’ “Las Meninas” when she was aged 5 (and also wearing a guardinfante even then!). Velázquez was famous for his loose brushwork, especially in his later work, and the silk here glows as it catches the light; the silk, the silver braid trim on the dress, the lace collar and the fur muff are all very loosely detailed but somehow we still feel the different textures. In contrast, the artist has more carefully painted Margarita’s face and hands so that her pale skin and golden hair are emphasized by the informality of the dress handling. Note also that Velázquez includes a background setting in his portrait; most of the portraits we’ve seen this month have plain, solid backgrounds.

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 10d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI (1593 – 1653), “Portrait of a Seated Lady (possibly Caterina Savelli?)”, c. 1625. Private collection.
#arthistory #art #portrait

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 12d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
FRANS POURBUS (1569 – 1622), “Portrait of Elisabeth of France, Queen of Spain”, c. 1615. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Pourbus was a third generation Flemish portrait painter who became the court painter for the Duke of Mantua in 1599 and then for the French royal court in 1609. His portraits are of royal family members and higher nobles. His portrait of Elisabeth, the daughter of King Henri IV of France and Marie de’Medici, was painted around the time of her marriage, by proxy, to the future Philip IV of Spain; upon her marriage, she became Queen Isabella of Spain and Portugal. Pourbus painted Elisabeth/Isabella in a formal court gown of silk, with delicate embroidery and incredible sleeves, and a glorious starched lace ruff collar (looks so pretty but must have been extremely uncomfortable to wear). Elisabeth also sports swaths of pearls(on her dress, in her hair, on her ears) to attest to her chastity and high social station. She doesn’t look terribly happy, in my opinion. The positioning of her hand, which draws the eye to the family jewel pinned to the front of her gown, is a typical gesture in Pourbus portraits.

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 13d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
LAVINIA FONTANA (1552 – 1614), “Portrait of Laura Gonzaga in Green”, 1580. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia US.
Fontana was the portraitist of choice for the rich and powerful noblewomen of Bologna.
#arthistory #art #portrait

Fontana's attention to detail and her ability to render rich fabrics made her famous, and she never lacked for clients. In 1604, she moved to Rome where she became a portraitist at the court of Pope Paul V. “Portrait of Laura Gonzaga in Green” is a perfect example of Fontana’s Mannerist style. Her subject is shown in a three-quarter, slightly turned frontal pose; she looks directly out at the viewer. Her gown is a richly patterned brocade embroidered with gold thread, with elegantly trimmed sleeves. She wears an abundance of pearls – markers of both chastity and high social status. Fontana’s popularity was due in part to her technical expertise at painting the luxurious, textured fabrics and expensive jewels of her sitters, without excess drama. Her portraits are captures of her sitters’ likenesses combined with social statements. Green was an expensive dye hue and therefore a high prestige color.

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 14d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
PAOLO VERONESE (1528 – 1588), “The Finding of Moses”, c. 1581/82. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Veronese was a master at painting luxurious textiles and he does not disappoint here.
#arthistory #art #Veronese

Veronese has taken the Biblical story of Moses being plucked from the river Nile by pharaoh’s daughter and costumed the participants as 16th century Venetian noblewomen! Veronese’s pharaoh’s daughter is gloriously dressed in heavy silk brocade laced with gold thread – the height of extreme luxury – with a fitted bodice, layered sleeves and a full skirt. Her hair is elaborately braided and twisted into an updo that any fashionable Venetian lady would covet. Her female attendants are all wearing brilliantly hued silk gowns. Veronese has composed a very theatrical scene with rhythmic color patterns of turquoise and orange (one might think he was a Miami Dolphins fan) that splash from one side of the canvas to the other. He liked this story so much that he painted several versions of “The Finding of Moses”, all using contemporary dress, as an excellent means of showing off his mastery of color and light.

Reposted by World Of Art By Sue

🅢🅗🅔🅔🅝🅐 @sheena-mck.bsky.social · 15d

Attention Alphabetters!
Mon 6 Oct is the start of Week O and the theme for the #AlphabetChallenge is Opulent. Anything showing great wealth and extravagance- palaces; super yachts; diamonds; or designer couture. Basically anything we can’t afford 😂
Use the # below and have fun😊

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 14d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
UNKNOWN BRITISH ARTIST, “A Young Lady, Aged 21, possibly Helena Snakenborg, later Marchioness of Northampton”, 1569. Tate Britain, London UK.
#arthistory #art #portrait

It seems very likely that this is a portrait of Helena Snakenborg, a Swedish-born noble who married the British William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton in 1571. She was aged 21 in 1569, as the writing on the painting states, and became a close friend of Elizabeth I. The artist is unknown but his style is English. The lady wears a rich red gown with heavily embroidered sleeves; the floral theme of the sleeves is of the Tudor rose, a symbol of Elizabeth I. The sitter has a carnation behind her ear, which was often used to symbolize a betrothal (again, the timing fits with Helena Snakenborg). She wears a French style hood on her head, which allows for her beautiful red hair to be visible. Every detail of the sitter’s attire testifies to fashionable Elizabethan court dress, and therefore a show of wealth and position. The heavy gold chains and liberal use of gold braid and seed pearls for decoration emphasize this exalted status.

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World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 16d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
BERNARDINO CAMPI (1522 – 1591), “Portrait of a Woman”, late 1560s. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City US.
Campi was a northern Italian artist, working frequently in his native Cremona.
#arthistory #art #portrait

This portrait of a lady is, like many of Campi’s portraits, of an unidentified sitter who wears the fashionable styles of northern Italy. Although we don’t know who she is exactly, she most definitely was noble given the expensive fabrics and gold lace evident in this portrait. The pointed bodice was a very popular fashion choice around Cremona in the 1560s, as was the close hair style. Her sleeves are tailored with a quilted detailing that is quite lovely. She wears a sheer partlet for modesty at the wide, squared neckline. She holds an elaborate fan in one hand and cradles a small dog (often used as a symbol of fidelity) with the other. Campi’s portrait style was rather stiff and reserved: the unknown lady shares a wary expression with her pup. This portrait was stolen by the Nazis during World War II but was restituted to the family post-war.

Reposted by World Of Art By Sue

𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 @churchstreetimages.com · 22d

Join the #BlueSkyArtShow
Saturday October 4, 2025
The theme is #Relax

Any art, any skill level
Use both tags to be
included in our feed.
Multiple entries welcome

More details in the comments

#photography #drawing #painting #sketching #writing #poetry #watercolor

Photo of clouds in the sky with text over it reading:
Join the #BlueSkyArtShow
Saturday October 4, 2025
The theme is #Relax

Any art, any skill level
Use both tags to be
included in our feed.
Multiple entries welcome

3 53 170

World Of Art By Sue @worldofartbysue.bsky.social · 17d

October's theme: Fabulous Gowns in Art
ALESSANDRO ALLORI (1535 – 1607), “Portrait of Lucrezia de’Medici”, 1560. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina US.
#arthistory #art #portrait

Lucrezia was the fifth child of Duke Cosimo I de’Medici and Eleonora of Toledo (whom we saw in her pomegranate gown in yesterday’s post). Alessandro Allori was a Late Mannerist painter who was trained by Bronzino. This portrait was made for Lucrezia’s brother, Francesco, around the time that she was to be married to Alfonso II d’Este; she was 15 years old. Allori depicts Lucrezia as powerful and wealthy, wearing a dark velvet gown (the dark color was a status symbol) with a tall standing collar and a white linen ruffle at the neck. Her gown has an overall diamond pattern and full sleeves that are slashed and padded. She sports a jeweled belt and a necklace of very large pearls. The artist has given her a commanding expression on her face, but in truth she was of fragile health her entire life and died (probably of tuberculosis) about one year after this portrait was painted.

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