Catalogue Roberti Fine Art, TEFAF Maastricht 2026 (1) compressed - Flipbook - Page 92
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OTTAVIO LEONI
Rome 1578-1630
Portrait of a young lady, head and shoulders,
in a burgundy dress with elaborate collar,
wearing a pearl necklace
oil on copper, oval
5.1 x 4 cm.
painted circa 1615
The close correspondence between this refined miniature and a recurring female type found in the
portraits of Ottavio Leoni confirms the attribution to the artist and allows its execution to be
placed around the middle of the second decade of the seventeenth century. The sitter, whose
expression is at once introspective and gently composed, closely recalls the Young Lady in the
British Museum (fig. 1). Parallels are evident in the coiffure—drawn up high and softly arranged
over the forehead—the cut of the dress, with its reinforced sleeves and rigid flat collar opening
onto an embroidered bodice, and in the rich accessories, notably the large drop earrings and the
pearl necklace. Certain physiognomic likenesses may also be observed with the drawn and painted
portraits of Maddalena Telli, Leoni’s stepdaughter, although the elaborately structured gown worn
by the present sitter, trimmed with gold braid, suggests a woman of higher social rank.¹
Fig. 1. Ottavio Leoni, Portrait of a young lady wearing
a pearl necklace. The British Museum, London.
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