Portrait of a Noblewoman Dressed in Mourning (c. 1600): Artwork and History

Portrait of a Noblewoman Dressed in Mourning (c. 1600) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Jacopo da Empoli (Jacopo Chimenti; Italian, 1551–1640).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The subject of this imposing portrait is unknown today. Her black costume and traditional mourning veil indicate her status as an aristocratic widow, while the prominent crucifix refers to her piety, as does the small prayer book in her hand. The woman is nearly life-size and framed by a dramatic black curtain, conventions in portraiture of the nobility across Europe at the time. In the decades around 1600, the Medici dukes of Florence intermarried with the ruling houses of Europe, and their court artists and work-shops helped establish an international style that appealed to princely and aristocratic collectors.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of a Noblewoman Dressed in Mourning
• Date: c. 1600
• Artist attribution: Jacopo da Empoli (Jacopo Chimenti; Italian, 1551–1640)
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 221 × 122.5 cm (87 × 48 1/4 in.); Framed: 243.9 × 147.4 × 5.1 cm (96 × 58 × 2 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1960.1

Collection credit

Louise B. and Frank H. Woods Purchase Fund

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.