Beauty, "Venustà" and Virtue: From "bella donna anonima" to virtous wife’s portrait in the Early Cinquecento Venice

Abstract

Some female images of the Early Cinquecento Venice have been subject to various interpretations. On the one hand the physical appearance of pictures as Titian’s Flora or La Bella, has led some researchers to consider them the materialization of Beauty itself. On the other hand others specialists have interpreted their own specific iconography as images of young brides, mostly portraits, but eluding their appearance considered pretty. In this article the semantic of the represented feminine beauty will be detailed as a key part of the virtue’s message of a perfect wife’s portrait.

Keywords

• belle donne
• retrato femenino del renacimiento
• belleza
• virtud
• venecia
• tiziano
• giorgione
• palma el viejo.