North Italian School

late 16th Century

Portrait of a young lady, in red costume with her hands resting on a basilisk and a double-tailed mermaid

Footnotes

While the subject of this portrait is unknown we can suppose that inspiration for it has been drawn from Petrarch's Il Canzoniere, due to the inscription at the top which is taken from Sonnet 203. Il Canzoniere, a collection of poems written between 1327 and 1368 in Italian vernacular instead of Latin, celebrates the author's idealised love for Laura, a woman he cannot have as she is already married. The woman could be Laura de Noves, though this is still debated. She was from and lived in Avignon and this is where Petrarch notes having first seen her and immediately fallen in love with her. These sonnets show Petrarch as a humanist, demonstrating a variety of feelings such as desire, isolation, vanity of youth, but also themes such as religion and politics. These sonnets illustrate the paradox of unrequited love, it is desired yet painful. At the same time, laurus (the symbol for victory, honour, fame and poetry, from which the name Laura is derived) is given the highest recognition by being dedicated to and in turn giving Petrarch glory through his written work.

The inscription 'Infinita bellezza et poca fede', or 'Infinite beauty, yet of such little faith', is the epitome of unrequited love, the author describes how his love and passion leaves its subject cold and uncaring, even though time moves on love will continue in death. The young lady in the painting is depicted resting her hands on a basilisk and a double-tailed mermaid. These mythological creatures represent cruel creatures: the basilisk could kill with its stare and mermaids could lure innocent and unsuspecting men to their deaths through their beauty and entrancing song. Both of these creatures have parallels in Classical mythology, the basilisk with Medusa and the mermaids with sirens. Again these creatures have the power to kill by being gazed upon or through their voices. Petrarch makes references to Medusa and sirens in his sonnets, metaphors for the unreturned love that is slowly killing him. The portrait thus identifies the sitter as the subject of love and affection, but one that is not returned and possibly slowly killing the viewer or patron.