Delivering a Promise to Marry

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During Renaissance Italy, one way to send a message about the life-changing binding of two affluent families was to sit … Read more During Renaissance Italy, one way to send a message about the life-changing binding of two affluent families was to sit for a portrait like this. The finished work would then be delivered to the family of one’s intended. In lieu of dating, the custom continued. How else would the potential groom know what he was getting into personally (besides the size of the girl’s dowery). Naturally, this painting is filled with multiple indications to support the union.
Let’s decode. The attractive and docile young woman is portrayed as softly rounded with clear skin and full lips to indicate fertility. In the painting’s background, there’s a high, cornice-topped stone wall inset with a fountain suggesting both the security and refinement of the girls’ family estate. What looks like a city in the background with a distinctive tower likely anchors her geographically. But for the gentleman (and especially his mother) the flower wreath the lady works upon denotes her purity, the promise of love and fidelity, and at the least, an openness to a betrothal. The golden ring she modestly holds out toward the viewer seals the deal.
In our lives, we absorb millions of images from advertising, movies, periodicals, television, and now the Internet. But go back to a time without any of it. Then imagine the impact of this one picture's arrival in that context. See less