This most beautiful and distant lady has not been identified, nor has the meaning been explained of the inscription that appears in capital letters on the parapet. "La Bella" is shown slightly foreshortened, looking straight ahead and holding up her golden hair with her right hand. She is wearing a most elegant outfit of white, blue and red materials and is holding in her left hand a little coffer of jewels. The quality of the work and the similarity of the model with the femenine figures in Titian's Sacred and Profane Love, meant it was initially attributed to the master of Cadore, but today there is no doubt that it was painted by Palma the Elder. With its spectacular beauty, this work stands as the compendium of all the achievementes of Venetian painting, of its sensual colouring and suggestive luminosity.
