JACOB FERDINAND VOET | PORTRAIT OF FRANCESCA GREPPI FANI (1658-1732), HALF LENGTH

This portrait of Francesca Greppi Fani (1658-1732) is a rare autograph variant of a painting preserved in the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia (inv. no. 137) [1]. The daughter of a prominent Italian banker, Francesca was born in Como and in 1671, she married Fabio Fani, only to be widowed 9 years later. The present likeness speaks to her youth, signaled by the froth of flowers in her hair, and to her high birth, announced by the presence of rich silks, sumptuous pearls and an abundance of lace. 

We are grateful to Francesco Petrucci for endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs. 

1. Oil on canvas, 72 by 58 cm. See F. Petrucci, Ferdinand Voet (1639-1689) detto Ferdinando de' Ritratti, Rome 2005, pp. 221, cat. no. 168.a, reproduced p. 111, fig. 104.