7 ANDREA PREVITALI Italian, circa 1480­1528 Portrait of a Young Woman Black chalk with some white chalk 34.7 x 25.9 cm (13 11/16 x 10 3/16 in.) Cat. Ill, no. 38; 94.GB.36 During the Italian Renaissance, portrait drawing attained a high level of accomplishment. In this example, the unidentified sitter gazes directly at the viewer. Her simple beauty contrasts with her rich costume, lace­trimmed blouse, and complicated coiffure. The latter, fashionable in the 1520s and 1530s, was known as a cuffia and was made of hair interwoven with ribbons and other decorations. Although the portrait was possibly made for a painting, it could equally well have been a work in its own right. The attribution of the drawing is uncertain, but it is now usually given to the north Italian painter Andrea Previtali. Although there is no direct correspondence with any of Previtali's painted work, good general comparisons may be made with some of the female heads in his pictures. ITALIAN SCHOOL 15