Italian school; first half of the 17th century.

Italian school; first half of the seventeenth century.
"Portrait of a lady".
Carved marble.
Presents restorations in the nose area.
Measurements: 77 x 57 x 31 cm.
In this work the artist presents a female bust, whose aesthetics is inspired by models of the past. The ruff that covers her neck and the adornment of the hairstyle that covers part of the forehead of the protagonist take the viewer back to the Renaissance, a period of splendor in Italian art. In terms of technique and design it is evident that the artist is highly influenced by classical statuary, specifically that of ancient Rome. A statement that finds its evidence in the verism of the face where the wrinkles around the lips are widely marked, or in the composition of the bust itself without arms, but where the torso has some prominence. As for the portrait, it should be noted that this goes beyond the technique, revealing a personality through a gesture and even her clothing, thus implying that this is a woman belonging to a high position and with a certain power that is intuited from the seriousness and forcefulness of the gesture. Regarding the technique, the forms follow a classical canon of balanced anatomy that transmits an immutable beauty, responding to a concept of aesthetic serenity typical of the classicism of the Italian school.
As in the rest of Europe, the portrait became in the 17th century the protagonist genre par excellence, as a consequence of the new social structures that were established in the Western world during this century, embodying the maximum expression of the transformation of taste and mentality of the new clientele, which emerged among the nobility and the wealthy upper middle class, who would take the reins of history in this period. While official circles gave preponderance to other artistic genres, such as history painting, and the incipient collectors encouraged the profusion of costume paintings, portraiture monopolized the demand for the more private sphere, as a reflection of the value of the individual in the new society. This genre embodies the permanent presence of the image of its protagonists, for their reserved enjoyment in privacy.