Portrait of a Young Lady

Follower of Leonardo da Vinci

National Gallery of Art

Shown against a black background, the head and shoulders of a young lady with pale, peachy skin and long, wavy brown hair fill this vertical portrait painting. The woman faces our left in profile and she looks off in that direction with light brown eyes, her head tipped slightly forward. Her skin is smooth and her full cheeks are lightly flushed. The eyebrow we can see is thin and arched. She has a small, straight, rounded nose and her full terracotta-red lips are closed. Her hair is gathered back over her shoulders, but a few fine, curling tendrils fall over her chest. She wears a thin necklace that disappears into the cleavage of her low-cut, navy-blue bodice, which has sky-blue, puffed sleeves. The back of her head is lost in shadow against the dark background.