A long historical tradition has identified Beatrice Cenci in this portrait.
Formerly attributed to Guido Reni, it is now attributed to Italian Baroque painter Ginevra Cantofoli (Bologna 1618-1672).
The girl turns to us with an appealing and innocent gaze that reminds us of her tragic fate.
After years of oppression and abduction in a castle, Beatrice supported by her brothers and stepmother planned the murder of her father, Francesco Cenci, who was a dissolute and deprived man.
Ginevra Cantofoli | Woman in a Turban, 1650 (detail) | Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini, Roma