3 
Point of View 
Every portrait evokes the absence of the depicted person, while the expressive 
power of his or her features reminds us of the sitter. This is the dual nature of 
portraiture that explains why in the Renaissance a portrait was appreciated as 
much as – and sometimes even more than – the real person it depicted. 
Produced around 1585, this portrait of the Venetian Bianca Cappello is an espe- 
cially well documented example of that. Following its completion, the painting 
was venerated and idolised, treatment normally reserved for saints or rulers – 
but their frequently fictitious portraits make no claim to be truthful. Here, how- 
ever, Bianca’s face and dress are rendered with such verisimilitude that the de- 
piction seems to oscillate between idealisation and perfect truth. In addition, 
some of the details function as references to the lady’s turbulent, even adventur- 
ous history. 
Francesca Del Torre Scheuch, a curator of the Collection of Paintings, uncov- 
ered the work’s secrets and put together this exhibition, supported by the schol- 
arly contributions of Katja Schmitz-von Ledebur, curator of the Imperial Treas- 
ury, and two of the KHM’s conservators, Ingrid Hopfner and Elke Oberthaler. 
Last but not least, this publication may also serve as an invitation to learn more 
about a great painter: Scipione Pulzone – one of the period’s most celebrated 
portrait painters active in Rome, Naples and Florence. 
This is the twelfth show in our series “Points of View”, and I would especially like 
to thank Francesca Del Torre Scheuch and her co-authors. I am also most grate- 
ful to the colleagues at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in charge of graphics, 
layout, proof reading and the English translation, and to Guido Messling, a cur- 
ator of the Collection of Paintings, who looks after our “Points of View”. 
I feel it is important to continue this beautiful series and its engaged and chal- 
lenging discourse with our visitors. 
Stefan Weppelmann 
Director of the Collection of Paintings