Lady with Primroses

The marble Lady with Primroses (also Woman Holding Flowers) is almost unanimously recognized as an authentic work from the late 1470s. Its format, a half-figure bust, including arms and hands, was unusual at that date and recalls that of a specific type of antique statue used to depict Roman officials. It enabled the artist to endow his subject with a regal stance and demeanour and to show aristocratic hands with long, elegant fingers. Of special note is the hair with its side-curled ends, the faint trace of a smile and the finely detailed clinging dress, tied at the waist.