Giorgione's "Laura" 1506; courtsean or marriage portrait?

        Giorgio da Castelfranco, c.1476-78 - 1510, better cognize as Giorgione, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He lived a all of a sudden life, passing away from the plague during his thirties, leaving behind a small, but beautiful compilation of compositions. One of his some far-famed works is Portrait of a Woman 1506 (Figure1.) also known as Laura. This painting has mystified art history scholars with its indication of the sitters identity for centuries. Was this a portrait of Venetian courtesan or a marriage portrait of a respectable Venetian woman? Despite the credible evidence which support the meter reading that Laura represents a marriage portrait, this paper will argue that a visual interpretation of Giorgiones painting undeniably presents Laura as an tasty portrayal of a sixteenth century courtesan.

        One of the most significant features of Giorgiones Laura which serves as a symbol to the sitters identity is the carriage of the medal. The inclusion of laurel functions to support alternate interpretations; more prominently that the painting is a portrait of a courtesan, yet non dismissing it as a marriage portrait of a Venetian woman.

Foremost the name Laura suggested by the laurel branch which frames the sitters head echoes the drug abuse of a pun on the sitters name. For instance, in both da Vinci da Vincis Portrait of Ginevra deBenci c.1480 (Figure 2.



) and Antonio Pisanellos Portrait of Ginevra dEste 1438 (Figure 3.) the identifying feature of the juniper pubic hair behind the womans head acts as an allusion to her name Ginevra where the Italian parole for juniper is genipro. Additionally, Laura was one of the most common names taken by courtesans of the sixteenth century in Venice, thus the laurel could be suggestive of the sitters trade as a courtesan.

         ribbon was also identified as a symbol for literary accomplishments. For...

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