La Primavera

Closely based on Francesco Salviati's Primavera, one of the tondos of the four seasons in the Chigi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome of circa 1554 (see fig. 1; L. Montari, Francesco Salviati, Rome 1992, pp. 123-4, fig. 40), the present picture shows a significant number of pentiments. The sculptural modelling of the figure shows significant changes throughout the legs and arms, the drapery has been readjusted, and the head has been repositioned in a way that is significantly different from the Chigi Chapel Primavera. Primavera's headdress of flowers, the bouquet she holds and the bank of flowers she sits upon all remain particularly well-preserved.