(Florence 1502–1567)
Portrait of a lady,
oil on panel, 96.4 x 68.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Galerie Brunner, Paris, 1921-22 (as Andrea del Sarto, as a portrait of the artist’s wife);
Private collection, Berlin, 1927 (as Jacopo da Pontormo);
Detlev Baron von Hadeln, Florence (as Jacopo da Pontormo);
with Knoedler, New York 1960-61 (as Jacopo da Pontormo);
sale Sotheby’s, London, 6 July 1988, lot 68; (as Francesco Ubertini, il Bacchiacca);
Lore and Rudolf Heinemann collection;
sale Christie’s, London, 4 July 1997, lot 85 (as Francesco Ubertini, il Bacchiacca);
Private collection, England;
Private European collection

Exhibited:
Baltimore, Baltimore Museum of Art, Bacchiacca and his friends, 10 January – 19 February 1961, no. 58 (as Jacopa da Pontormo)

Literature:
S. J. Freedberg, Andrea del Sarto, 1963, II, p. 230 (as Francesco Ubertini, il Bacchiacca);
P. Costamagna/A. Fabre, Un ritratto di Tommaso di Stefano agli Uffizi, in: Prospettiva, 40, 1985, p. 73, footnote no. 14 (as attributed by Berenson to Tommaso di Stefano);
S. Padovani, in: Andrea del Sarto, 1486-1530, Dipinti e disegni a Firenze, exhibition catalogue, Florence, 1986-87, p.181-182;
P. Costamagna, Pontormo, Paris 1994, p. 303-304, n. A. 72 (as Tommaso di Stefano?)

The present painting has an impressive attributional history. It has been considered as a work by Andrea del Sarto and later Jacopo da Pontormo. More recently, Federico Zeri gave the painting to Pier Francesco Foschi (see Fototeca Zeri, no. 34244). In fact, the confusion regarding the attribution is explainable by the close collaboration of the artists, as Foschi was a pupil of Andrea del Sarto and collaborated with Pontormo in frescoes at Careggi in 1536.

Foschi is best known for his portraits in particular those painted between 1530 and 1540 such as the Portrait of a Young Man Weaving a Wreath of Flowers (Utah Museum of Fine Arts) and the Portrait of a Man (Florence, Uffizi Gallery). The present painting displays Foschi’s distinctive ability to achieve a likeness in representative portraits and it can be compared to the Portrait of a Lady (Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection no. 145) which must date from the same period. Both the present painting and the Madrid portrait demonstrate the refined genre of Mannerist portraiture and the sitters both have similar dresses with puffed sleaves. as well as almost identical head dresses.

In general Foschi’s portraits adher to Mannerist style, utilizing a slight contrapposto in the sitter with their head turned from the body. This pose gave the depiction a spontaneity and sense of movement and is particularly apparent in the present composition. The work with its high colour and brilliant details, especially apparent in the hands and gloves, the subtle flesh tones, the pietra serena interior and the shell-gold details of the brooch and chains are as precious as the marble-like colours of Bronzino in his portraits of the Medici in the Tribuna Gallery in the Uffizi.

A group of works has been attributed to Foschi, a consensus that has recently emerged over the recent studies and exhibitions that have been devoted to Pontormo and his circle. This painting was composed in a world dominated by the personalities of Pontormo and Andrea del Sarto, but also includes influences from other cultural sources, such as the Northern portraiture that were present at the sophisticated Florentine court at the time. Alongside Tommaso di Stefano (to whom the present work has also been attributed), Pietro di Matteo, Rosso Fiorentino, Franciabigio and Jacone, Foschi’s style emerges as a quite distinctive one.

Additional image:
Fig. 1. The present painting on the cover of Apollo magazine (December 1960) as Jacopo da Pontormo.