Portrait of a Woman

Italian artist Lorenzo Lotto painted this intimate portrait around 1506, showing a woman whose identity remains unknown. The small panel (36 x 28 cm) suggests it was meant for private display, perhaps in a domestic setting where it could be viewed up close.

This portrait is notable for having a protective cover painting, now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Renaissance portraits were sometimes designed as hinged objects with allegorical covers that protected and complemented the sitter's image. The Metropolitan Museum featured both works in their 2024 exhibition "Hidden Faces: Covered Portraits of the Renaissance."

The portrait hangs at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon in France, having entered the collection through the Trimolet bequest in 1878. Lotto worked in Venice and various northern Italian cities, developing a style that combined Venetian color with psychological intensity. The Dijon museum describes this as a "beautiful portrait" that concludes their Renaissance journey through Italian painting.