Portrait of a Woman

Around 1525 a woman was portrayed here in the guise of a saint. The clue is the dragon at her side with its jaws open. It belongs to Margaret of Antioch, who in the legend was swallowed by a dragon and burst out of it unharmed, and for that reason women prayed to her for a safe childbirth.

Savoldo painted living people with the attributes of saints more than once, and the usual explanation here is that Margaret was the sitter's own name saint. That would make her a Margherita, though who she was is unknown. An old photograph of the canvas labels her, with a cautious perhaps, as Eleonora Gonzaga, duchess of Urbino, and that name has never been confirmed.