Collection/1400s

Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni by Domenico Ghirlandaio

A young Florentine woman in profile, in a gold-embroidered gown, with a book, a coral necklace and a brooch behind her. She married into one of Florence’s great families in 1486.

She died in childbirth in 1488, and the portrait bears that date. The Latin inscription behind her says that if art could show character and soul, no painting on earth would be more beautiful.