Simonetta Vespucci

Piero di Cosimo (Italian, 1462-1522) - Portrait of a woman said to be by Simonetta Vespucci, c.1490 (Oil on panel. Musée Condé, Chantilly) - - The young and beautiful mistress of Giuliano de Medici, “the idol of Florence,” who posed for Botticelli, died of consumption at the age of twenty-three in 1476 and her lover would have had this portrait painted in memory of her. The depiction of a woman with a naked bust is unusual for a 15th century portrait. It can also be an ideal portrait, a Neoplatonic allegory of death, symbolized by the serpent which bites its tail, which leads to beauty. The funeral interpretation of the painting is reinforced by the black clouds and the dead tree which appear in front of Simonetta, on the left, while on the right, the trees have leaves and the sky is blue - NégyArt (Szingy Books)