Portrait of a young noblewoman, bust-length, in a red embroidered dress and a lace ruff,
oil on canvas, 62.1 x 52 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Veneto, for circa 100 years;
where acquired by the present owner

This female portrait can be assigned to the milieu of the court of Mantua in the early seventeenth century, both on stylistic grounds, and due to the fashion worn by the young noblewoman, an elegant red gown embroidered with gold thread and pearls, augmented by a fine starched white lace gorget emerging at her neck.

The court of Mantua was cultured and refined, and of influence despite the small size of territory. The Gonzaga attained a leading role among the great European ruling families at the beginning of the seventeenth century, not least because of their skillful matrimonial alliances which linked them closely to the Savoy family and the kings of France and Spain.

Portraits played a fundamental role in the politics of promotion in European courts between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, commissioned by rulers to decorate their palaces and, crucially, to be sent from one to another as diplomatic gifts. For this reason, during the summer of 1599, Vincenzo I Gonzaga travelled to Flanders in search of a court portraitist to satisfy his aspirations. He chose Frans Pourbus the Younger (Antwerp 1569–1622 Paris), who was at that time working in the service of Archduke Albert of Austria.

In October 1600, Pourbus arrived in Mantua and remained there until the end of 1608, after which he finally settled in Paris. Despite the numerous journeys made by the artist during this period, undertaken on behalf of the Gonzaga for the acquisition of works of art and for the portrayal of sovereigns related to the Dukes, Pourbus had a fundamental influence on the development of portraiture in Northern Italy in those years.