Portrait of a Woman (c.1670s). Giovanni Battista Gaulli (Il Baciccio) (Italian, 1639-1709). Oil on c
Portrait of a Woman (c.1670s). Giovanni Battista Gaulli (Il Baciccio) (Italian, 1639-1709). Oil on canvas. Met.In this work Gaulli showed great art and singular mastery. Only a handful of portraits of women by Gaulli survive, and of these, this is far and away the most beautiful. This raven-haired beauty, with her sidelong glance and her unconscious toying with her pearls, is intent on seducing the viewer. It is impossible not to be captivated by her. Gaulli learned from Bernini the procedure of encouraging his sitters not to hold a pose but to move about naturally, speaking and carrying on their activities, since only in this way could he produce a true likeness and bring out the best qualities of the subject. Of course, he also had the painter’s gift of flattery: no blemishes, no stray strands of hair, and those delicately pliant fingers that must have recalled to 17th-century viewers the ancient statue of the Venus de’ Medici. -- source link
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