Description
Portrait of Smeralda Brandini is a painting by Sandro Botticelli from around 1475: a young woman with reddish-blond curls and a rose-pink gown stands at a window with one hand on its frame, while an inscription on the sill names her Smeralda. The original, tempera on panel measuring 65.7 x 41 cm, belongs to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 portrait sizes from 29 x 46 to 130 x 200 cm or made to measure. Before your Smeralda leaves us, we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | Portrait of Smeralda Brandini |
| Other titles: | Ritratto di Smeralda Brandini (Italian title) · Portret Smeralde Brandini (Slovene title) |
| Painter: | Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510) |
| Year painted: | c. 1475 |
| Original size: | 65.7 cm x 41 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Tempera on panel |
| Painting style: | Early Renaissance |
| Located at: | Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, museum no. CAI.100 |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Smeralda Brandini – Sandro Botticelli
What does Portrait of Smeralda Brandini show?
Botticelli places the woman behind a stone window opening whose deep reveals are painted in perspective, so the window works as a frame within the frame. Along the bottom runs a broad sill carrying the small, barely legible letters of an inscription.
The lady turns towards us in a three-quarter view. Her reddish-blond hair falls in tight curls at the temples and is held at the back by a small white cap with a fine veil. A high forehead, straight brows and dark eyes give the face a serious, composed look, and her lips are closed.
She wears a rose-pink gown in soft folds, edged with gold-brown braid around the neckline and down the front. The sleeves are lined with a deeper red, and a sheer white fabric falls over the gown. A fine necklace sits at her throat. She raises her right hand to the window frame, while her left rests at her waist, gathering the white cloth.
Behind her, a slender column on a square base rises on the left and a tall panelled wooden door stands wide open on the right, with a patch of pale blue sky between them.
Who is the woman in the portrait?
Her name comes only from the inscription on the sill, which begins with the words Smeralda di M. Bandinelli and calls her the wife of a Bandinelli. The inscription is old but probably not original; it was most likely added later, because the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli only took that surname in 1530.
On this evidence the sitter may be Smeralda Donati Brandini, wife of Viviano Brandini and mother of the prominent Florentine goldsmith Michelangelo Brandini of Gaiuole, whose son was the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. The identification remains a suggestion, not a proven fact.
Her clothes speak of her time too. The gown is a cotta, a light summer dress, and over it she wears a sheer overdress known as a guarnello. This very portrait helped art historians identify the similar sheer overdress worn by the Mona Lisa.
Why does this portrait matter so much?
Before this, Florentine women were almost always painted in profile, like a head on a coin. Botticelli turned the lady three-quarters towards the viewer and placed her hand on the window frame, a pose art historians regard as his own invention.
The portrait is thought to be the first example of a three-quarter pose in Florentine portrait painting, and leaving the strict profile behind gave it a new sense of movement.
Experts have not always agreed on who painted it. Some have suggested one of Botticelli’s assistants in the 1470s, and William Michael Rossetti wrote that critics had invented the name Amico di Sandro for the unknown painter. It was once even suspected of being a forgery by Ignazio Hugford. The Victoria and Albert Museum attributes it to Botticelli himself.
You will find a similarly composed gaze in Portrait of a Young Woman. The English Wikipedia article, titled Portrait of a Lady Known as Smeralda Brandini, tells more about the inscription and the owners.
Where is the original, and who owned it?
The original is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, museum number CAI.100. It came there as a bequest, with the collection of Constantine Alexander Ionides.
In 1805 the portrait was in the Paris collection of Count James de Pourtalès-Gorgier, who sold it in 1865. In 1867 Charles Augustus Howell bought it at Christie’s on behalf of the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and in the 1880s Rossetti’s patron Ionides bought it from him.
Rossetti mentioned the painting in a note on his poem about Botticelli’s Primavera, believing the same lady had sat for that scene. That suggestion now seems unlikely.
Botticelli, born Alessandro Filipepi, spent almost his whole life in the Ognissanti quarter of Florence; long forgotten after his death, he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites, Rossetti’s own circle.
Portrait of Smeralda Brandini or another Botticelli?
This canvas painting suits anyone who prefers a single face to a crowd of figures; its tall, narrow format fits between two windows, beside a door or in a bedroom.
If Botticelli’s portraits draw you in, look at Idealized Portrait of a Lady (Simonetta Vespucci) as well. As male companions, Portrait of a Young Man (Florence) and Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici make a harmonious row with Smeralda.
Our Sandro Botticelli page gathers all the famous Botticelli paintings we paint to order, from portraits to large mythological scenes.
How do we hand-paint Portrait of Smeralda Brandini?
Botticelli’s original is tempera on a wooden panel, 65.7 cm high and 41 cm wide. Ours is a Sandro Botticelli reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in thin layers that dry one after another; the canvas then travels rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed.
He builds the skin in thin, translucent glazes so the face takes on a soft light. The curls are painted one by one in warm copper and gold tones. Last come the sheer white fabric, the veil, the fine necklace and the gold-brown braid along the gown.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: the smallest sizes for a bedside table, hallway or narrow wall, the middle ones for a bedroom or study, the largest for a tall wall by the stairs or in the living room.
We paint Portrait of Smeralda Brandini in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 29 x 46, 40 x 62, 48 x 75, 55 x 85, 70 x 110, 77 x 129, 100 x 159 and 130 x 200 cm. The original measures 41 x 65.7 cm (width x height). So 29 x 46 cm is smaller, 40 x 62 cm is about as large as the panel in London, and every size from 48 x 75 cm upwards is larger.
As a painting for the living room she comes into her own from 70 x 110 cm; at 40 x 62 or 48 x 75 cm she stays intimate.
Can I order another size, and which frame suits it?
Yes. For other proportions the lady, the window and the inscribed sill stay whole; we adjust only the background. Even then the oil painting reproduction keeps everything that makes this portrait special. Send us your preferred measurements for a price and a date.
We ship Smeralda rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing and packs her safely for the journey.
You choose the moulding in our 3D app, which is for choosing the frame only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A narrow gilded or warm wood frame suits her.
When will your Portrait of Smeralda Brandini arrive?
Your Smeralda is ready for dispatch 15 to 45 working days after you confirm the order; we send you a photograph first and make any changes before packing.
Within Slovenia and the rest of the EU Smeralda travels without customs, and our returns policy covers every order.
Since the inscription presents her as a wife and mother, the portrait makes a lovely gift for a mother or grandmother. Unsure which size will fit? A gift voucher leaves the choice of painting and size to them.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
In the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, museum number CAI.100.
Who was Smeralda Brandini?
According to the inscription on the sill, possibly Smeralda Donati Brandini, wife of Viviano Brandini and grandmother of the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli.
Is it a print?
No. It is a hand-painted copy: our painter brushes in every curl and every fold.
How large is the original?
65.7 x 41 cm (height x width); our 40 x 62 cm size is very close to it.
Can I have Smeralda in a size that is not listed?
Yes: send us the width and height of your wall space and we will quote for Smeralda.
How long does Smeralda take, and how is she sent?
Allow 15 to 45 working days before dispatch; we send it rolled, stretched or framed.
Does the portrait suit a bedroom?
Yes. Its warm pink and gold and the lady’s calm gaze create a quiet, pleasant mood.
Did Botticelli paint the portrait himself?
The museum attributes it to Botticelli, though some experts have given it to one of his assistants.
- Subject: a young woman in a rose-pink gown at a window, one hand on its frame, with a column and an open door behind.
- Original: tempera on panel, c. 1475, 65.7 x 41 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
- Our painting: Smeralda hand-painted in oil on canvas in 8 sizes from 29 x 46 to 130 x 200 cm, or made to measure.
- Good to know: the portrait is thought to be the first three-quarter portrait in Florentine painting.
