GHIRLANDAIO, Ridolfo
(b. 1483, Firenze, d. 1561, Firenze)

The Portrait's Box

1506-10
Oil on wood, 65 x 48 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

This is the pendant of "The Nun." During the Renaissance, paintings of especial value were protected by curtains or other covers. This one may have been mounted on a track that allowed it to reveal or conceal its pendant.

Amid trompe-l'oeil classical decorations, an inscription reads: "To each his/her mask."