4. Quentin Matsys – The Ugly Duchess 1513
The work is Matsys’ best-known painting, and was long thought to have been derived from a lost work by da Vinci, on the basis of its striking resemblance to two caricature drawings of heads commonly attributed to the Italian artist. However the caricatures are now thought to be based on the work of Matsys, who is known to have exchanged drawings with the great Italian artist. The work shows a grotesque old woman with wrinkled skin and withered breasts that are partially revealed by her low-cut dress. The subject wears the aristocratic horned headdress of her youth, out of fashion by the time of the painting, and holds in her right hand a red flower, then a symbol of engagement, indicating that she is trying to attract a suitor. However, it has been described as a bud that will ‘likely never blossom’.