VERROCCHIO, Andrea del
(b. 1435, Firenze, d. 1488, Venezia)

Lady with Primroses

1475-80
Marble, height 61 cm
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

The marble Lady with Primroses (also Woman Holding Flowers) is almost unanimously recognized as an authentic work from the late 1470s. Its format, a half-figure bust, including arms and hands, was unusual at that date and recalls that of a specific type of antique statue used to depict Roman officials. It enabled the artist to endow his subject with a regal stance and demeanour and to show aristocratic hands with long, elegant fingers. Of special note is the hair with its side-curled ends, the faint trace of a smile and the finely detailed clinging dress, tied at the waist.