Costanza Caetani, who was born a Medici, looks out boldly in a pose that emphasises dynamism and personality: she almost swaggers as she leans her elbow confidently over a parapet, holding orange blossoms that symbolise her recent marriage. Her big characterful face doesn’t point sideways in static profile, as was the case in many earlier Italian portraits of women, but engages you directly. Such strong and sensitive portraiture of women started in Flemish art in the early 1400s and was brought to Florence by Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci. The anonymous artist who did this was part of that revolution in the female image.

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