Artwork

Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere (1622-1694) aged 4 or 5

Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere (1622-1694) aged 4 or 5, by Lorenzo Lippi, oil, 1627
Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere (1622-1694) aged 4 or 5, by Lorenzo Lippi, oil, 1627

Portrait of Vittoria della Rovere (1622-1694) aged 4 or 5 is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Lorenzo Lippi. It dates from 1627 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

About this work

Overview

Lorenzo Lippi’s 1627 oil portrait captures a young Vittoria della Rovere at roughly four or five years of age. The child stands before a deep, muted backdrop, her figure illuminated by the rich tones of her attire. The work resides in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, offering a glimpse of early‑Baroque portraiture focused on aristocratic youth.

Subject & Meaning

The sitter, Vittoria della Rovere (1622‑1694), is presented in an opulent costume that signals her noble lineage. Her poised stance, delicate curls, and the flower she holds suggest innocence tempered by the expectations of her high‑born status, reflecting the period’s practice of using portraiture to affirm dynastic identity from an early age.

Technique & Style

Executed in oil on canvas, Lippi employs a dark, almost tenebristic background that heightens the luminous quality of the subject’s garments. Gold embroidery and pearl accents are rendered with fine brushwork, while the textured fabric pattern of flowers and leaves demonstrates the artist’s attention to surface detail characteristic of Florentine court painters of the 1620s.

History & Provenance

Created shortly after Vittoria’s birth, the portrait entered the Habsburg imperial collections and eventually was transferred to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Its documented presence in the museum’s catalogue confirms its provenance, linking the work to the broader network of European aristocratic portrait commissions in the seventeenth century.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Lorenzo Lippi

Artist

Lorenzo Lippi

Lorenzo Lippi (1606–1665) was an artist, born in Florence.