Portraits: Similarities Between Figure A And B

When looking at Figure A and B the many similarities that these paintings share are evident. One of the most evident of these similarities is the meaning or primary focus of these paintings. These figures seem to both be portraits, most likely with the intent of showing off wealth or status. The reason as to why I think that these portraits where both made for the reason is because they both seem to be trying to “show off” to the viewer, showing the figures in expensive and opulent clothing, in image number two the sitter for the portrait is wearing what looks to be a expensive and fine brocade, while in image one the wearer is also wearing equally as opulent of clothing but in a different style. She is wearing an intricately folded head covering,
My guesses as to where these pieces are from are: I think that figure A is most likely a Flemish piece of art, and that figure B is most likely a piece of Italian art. There are many things that point to Figure A being a 15th century Flemish piece of art, one thing that points to this being a Flemish piece of art is the way she is sitting in the portrait, and how she is turned the way that she is. In many Flemish portraits the person is posed in this way, one of these portraits from this region that is a good example of this is Jean Hey’s Portrait of Margaret of Austria. In fact, the Portrait of Margaret of Austria and Image A share many of the qualities that point to being them being Northern renaissance art pieces. Another thing that both of these paintings share that points to them both being of the same origin is the style of clothing that they are wearing. In the portraits they are both wearing garments and headpieces that are very similar, with the only differences between them being the fact that the styles changed minutely over the timespan between these two images. There are both wearing similar textiles, and fur lined garments that where more typical of northern Europe during that time period, and where not generally worn in places like Italy. Another characteristic of Flemish art that both of these pieces’ share is the attention to detail in the faces of the patron, as
One of the ways you can tell this is an Italian piece of art is through its similarity to other pieces of Italian portraiture at this time. One Piece that I think that figure two is very similar to is Piero Della Francesca’s Federico Da Montefeltro. They both share some of the qualities of Italian portraiture. One of the really identifiable things that they have in common is how they present the sitter of the portrait, both of them are sat in the portrait so that the profile view of them is given, which was a characteristic of Italian portraits at this time and wasn’t really found in their Netherlandish counterparts. Another thing that these two pieces have in common that identifies them as Italian art is the style in which their faces are painted. In both paintings the figure seems to be very disconnected from the audience of the painting, and even somewhat aloof. The faces are painted without very much character, they are very smooth, seem to be almost wrinkles, and display no distinguishing features unlike the Netherlandish