Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere
by BALASSI, Mario, Oil on canvas, 83 x 64 cm
Vittoria della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1622-1694) was the wife of Ferdinando II de’ Medici. She was the daughter of Federigo-Ubaldo della Rovere (1604-1648) and Claudia de’ Medici. She gave her husband four children, two of which would survive infancy; the future Cosimo III, Tuscany’s longest reigning monarch and Francesco Maria, a prince of the Church.
She is best known as the last heir of the art collection assembled by her family in Urbino and as the person who, through marriage, passed them on to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.