Francesco Laurana

video still of Giulio Dalvit and marble bust of woman
Cocktails with a Curator: Laurana's "Bust of a Woman"

This week, Assistant Curator Giulio Dalvit celebrates the 50th episode of Cocktails with a Curator by considering a marble bust by the fifteenth-century artist Francesco Laurana. The bust has no wrinkles or defects and almost seems composed not of flesh but of perfect geometrical shapes. While some have suggested it is an ideal portrait of feminine beauty, it is traditionally identified with the Italian noblewoman Ippolita Maria Sforza or with her daughter, Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan.