Workshop of Francesco Morandini, called Il Poppi

Il Poppi painted several variations of this figure, each time changing the attributes she holds and variously depicting her as Saint Elena, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and simply, as here, a noble lady.¹ The designs are so close that Poppi must have used the same cartoon for all four panels and indeed there is a cartoon in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from which they may all derive.² The sitter is always dressed in a manner which is consistent with 1570s Florentine fashion.

1. For examples of other versions see A. Giovannetti, Francesco Morandini, detto il Poppi, Florence 1995, p. 144-145.
2. M. Gregori, Francesco Morandini, detto il Poppi, Florence 1995, p. 90, cat. no. 22, reproduced fig. 37.