Portrait of a Woman Holding a Book

Unlike Florence, very few female portraits from the late Quattrocento and the years about 1500 survive from Venice. The present painting belongs to a small group of female portraits attributed to Vittore Carpaccio. Shown in three-quarter view facing right, the woman wears her hair parted in the middle and gathered in the back, where it is held by a net studded with small white beads. She is dressed according to Venetian fashion well documented for the period around 1500. The woman’s dress and hair style are close to those in D�rer’s Portrait of a Venetian Woman in Berlin, or the Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman in Vienna.

The sitter of the portrait is not identified. She could be a woman who has had a humanist education, or perhaps a pious lady holding a book of hours or a similar devotional book.