Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement

Description

Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement places a richly dressed woman in profile before an architectural opening. Her elaborate braided headwear and embroidered sleeve give the near figure a detailed presence, while a man’s face appears through the window at the left. A landscape extends beyond the interior. Fra Filippo Lippi makes the room’s boundaries part of the relationship between the two sitters.

Painted around 1440 in tempera on wood, the portrait includes French-inspired clothing and a sleeve embroidered with the word lealta, meaning faithful. The Metropolitan Museum of Art considers that detail a clue that the man may be the woman’s betrothed. The reading remains tentative, but the painting’s particular arrangement makes their relationship central: dress, openings and adjoining spaces all contribute to an encounter between two distinct presences.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Filippo Lippi collection.