Portrait of a Lady. Beauty and physiognomic description come together in this ravishing portrait of a young woman sitting on a balcony before a richly inlaid marble balustrade, her profile silhouetted against a cloud-scudded sky. "She has the color of pearl, in form such as / is fitting to a lady, not in excess: / she is the greatest good nature can create" (Dante, Vita nuova 9:47–50). The beloved first glimpsed at a window or on a balcony was a staple of amatory writing