|  | Ginevra de' Benci
(reverse)
Item 4 on 11
Italian Painting
Painting (Portrait)
Dimensions : 37 cm x 43 cm
Material : Oil on canvas
Date : approx. between 1474 and 1478
Area related : Firenze (Italy)
Acquisition : Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund (1967)
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| Description |  |  |
This is the back ot the portrait of Ginevra. A scroll bears her Latin motto, meaning "Beauty Adorns Virtue." In the emblem's center, a sprig of juniper (in Italian, ginepro) suggests Ginevra's name, while the encircling laurel and palm symbolize her intellectual and moral virtue. The laurel and palm also happened to be the personal emblem of Bernardo Bembo, Venetian ambassador to Florence, whose deep and abiding relationship with Ginevra is revealed in poems dedicated to them.
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