Ritratto di profilo di giovane dama

In Florence around 1465 a well-born woman had her likeness taken almost always in strict profile, the way a ruler appeared on an ancient coin. This young woman follows that rule exactly. She is turned to the side against a plain blue sky, her blonde hair bound under a light bonnet, her brocade sleeve caught in the crisp outline that Florentine painters prized above soft shading. We do not know her name. The panel is usually given to Antonio del Pollaiuolo, a goldsmith and sculptor as much as a painter, though the Berlin gallery that owns it now leans toward his brother Piero. Either way the hand belonged to a workshop that thought in line first, drawing a face much as it would engrave a medal.