The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, has acquired a masterful portrait by Orazio Borgianni (1578-Rome-1616). After passing through the collections of a noble Roman family and the noted Neapolitan antiquary La Pinacoteca, this work was first published in 2001 by Marco Gallo with the sound attribution to the Roman painter.
Although the identity of the sitter has not been proven, she could be identified as Vittoria Campiglia, whose portrait Borgianni left in his will to the son of the sitter, and his pupil, Pietro Campiglia. However, the pose of the present sitter does not appear to be that used in a true portrait. It seems more likely, as Gallo explains, that the painting is instead an extremely beautiful study for a larger work, utilizing great and powerful realism. The head could have been used possibly for Saint Elisabeth or Saint Anna. A strong comparison, as argued by Gallo, can be made with Holy Family, Saint Elisabeth, Saint John and the angel from the Galleria Barberini or the three versions of the Holy Family and Saint Anna (two owned by private British collections and the third in the Roberto Longhi Foundation, Florence).