Tempera painting, 'A portrait of a Lady', Francesco Morandini called Il Poppi, ca. 1570

A three-quarter profile portrait of an elegant lady with in her golden hair a sophisticated headdress decorated with gems and green ribbons; she wears a red and green dress with a large collar hold by a cartouche-shaped golden brooch.

Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce

Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce, 1869
South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks. The Dyce and Forster Collections. With Engravings and Facsimiles. Published for the Committee of Council on Education by Chapman and Hall, Limited, 193, Piccadilly, London. 1880. Chapter I. Biographical Sketch of Mr. Dyce. pp.1-12, including 'Portrait of Mr. Dyce' illustrated opposite p.1.

Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education, South Kensington Museum.A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings... Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce. London, 1874. A 'Note' on page v comments, 'This catalogue refers to the Art portion of the Collection bequeathed to the South Kensington Museum by the Reverend Alexander Dyce, the well-known Shakespearian scholar, who died May 15, 1869'. The Catalogue. Paintings, Miniatures, &c. by Samuel Redgrave notes of the 'Oil Paintings', 'The strength of Mr. Dyce's valuable bequest to Department of Science and Art does not lie in [this] portion ... which is in its nature of a very miscellaneous character. The collection was made apparently as objects offered themselves, and without any special design.' Dyce's main interest was in literary subjects, and this is reflected in many of the paintings he bequeathed to the V&A.

Historical significance: This painting is a perfect example of Francesco Morandini's type of female portrait, an attribution supported by Alessandra Giovanetti. The present work appears therefore to belong to a group of portraits representing the same model, originally identified by Federico Zeri (Italian paintings in the Walters Art gallery, Baltimore, 1976). These group of four paintings reproduced the same model, whose hands' position slightly differ, and probably derive from the same cartoon (see A female portrait, Private collection, Florence; St Helen, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; and two St Catherine of Alexandria in The Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame (Indiana) and in the Duke d'Alba collection, Madrid).
Particularly close to the V&A painting for the use of a delicate sfumato enhancing the roundness of the face and neck are the Florence and the Madrid pictures while the other two appear sharper and less refined. Although strongly influenced by Naldini's art with whom Poppi trained in Vasari's studio, his latter works, similar to the present one, also reflect the Mannerist work of Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572) whose use of soft acidic colours and pallor of the flesh seem particularly influential in the green and red of the outfit as well as in the delicate modelling of the round face. The Florence painting has been dated by Zeri close to Poppi's work in Francesco's studiolo (around 1570) and it seems reasonable to date the V&A painting from around the same period.
Compare with the other four paintings all showing half-length figures, the present format seems to result from a later reduction and may originally have represented a half-length figure as well. The painting must have been cut off on the edges, a reduction that is particularly visible on the top where half of her headdress is missing.
Francesco Morandini called Poppi may be considered as one of the latest representatives of the Florentine mannerism.

In his encyclopaedic work, Historia Naturalis, the ancient Roman author Pliny the Elder described the origins of painting in the outlining of a man's projected shadow in profile. In the ancient period, profile portraits were found primarily in imperial coins. With the rediscovery and the increasing interest in the Antique during the early Renaissance, artists and craftsmen looked back to this ancient tradition and created medals with profile portraits on the obverse and personal devise on the reverse in order to commemorate and celebrate the sitter. Over time these profile portraits were also depicted on panels and canvas, and progressively evolved towards three-quarter and eventually frontal portraits.
These portraits differ in many ways from the notion of portraiture commonly held today as they especially aimed to represent an idealised image of the sitter and reflect therefore a different conception of identity. The sitter's likeness was more or less recognisable but his particular status and familiar role were represented in his garments and attributes referring to his character. The 16th century especially developed the ideal of metaphorical and visual attributes through the elaboration of highly complex portrait paintings in many formats including at the end of the century full-length portraiture. Along with other devices specific to the Italian Renaissance such as birth trays (deschi da parto) and wedding chests' decorated panels (cassoni or forzieri), portrait paintings participated to the emphasis on the individual.

Francesco Morandini called Il Poppi (1544-1597) was born in Florence and was a pupil together with Giovanni Battista Naldini (ca.1537-ca.1591) of the mannerist painter Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) and work with him in the studiolo of Francesco I in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

This painting showing a three-quarter profile lady wearing refined headdress and a pink and green dress belongs to a group of five paintings representing the same model in a similar position. The colour scheme as well as the delicate modelling of the face is typical of Poppi's art who was strongly influenced by the early Florentine mannerists.

DYCE.1