Two Venetian Ladies

The protagonists of this famous and enigmatic painting are two young ladies, sitting on a terrace. These noblewomen are preoccupied and seem to be bored, with her gaze lost in the vacuum. What are they looking for? Are they waiting for someone?

Only in recent time it was possible to definitively understand the represented subject is two ladies: the characters are two ladies waiting for their husbands, who are hunting in the lagoon. The upper part of the panel, with some boats driven by noblemen (the hunt in the lagoon) is situated in Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The ladies show us typical characteristics of richness and nobleness: fashion hairstyles, elegant dresses and the well-known typical red ‘calcagni’ (a particular type of female footwear, typical of the 15th century-Venetian fashion). The necklace of pearls worn by the younger one (promise or recent bride), the white handkerchief, the couple of turtle doves on the railing, the female of peacock and dogs put in evidence matrimonial virtues such as purity, modesty, conjugal concord, loyalty and protection.

In origin this panel used to adorn the right door of a precious furniture, who left part has been get lost.