The sitter resembles the family figures of Francesco Sassetti, a banker of Lorenzo de Medici’s close circle, who were painted in fresco in one of the chapels of Santa Trinita Church in Florence between 1482 and 1485.

A fine example of Quattrocento depictions, the figure’s head is three-quarter turned, against a neutral background, in accordance with the practice employed before landscapes were introduced in the portraits. The young woman is dressed in the Florentine style of the period, with closely fitted overlapping clothing and a neckline adorned with a coral necklace. The delicate face reflects the precise and pleasant style of the painter, a favourite portraitist among Florentine society at the time.

Ghirlandaio’s representations, like those of his contemporary Botticelli, favour the idealistic stylisation of female beauty, at a time when portraiture was spreading among the bourgeoisie and human values were increasingly making their way into art.