Eleonora Alvares de Toledo y Colonna 

Alessandro Allori painted this portrait of Eleonora Alvares de Toledo y Colonna in the sixteenth century. The young woman's figure dominates the pictorial space. Your eye may immediately be drawn to the intricate detailing of her garment. Its elaborate pattern and texture create a visual field that almost seems to flatten the pictorial space. Consider the interplay between surface and depth here. The artist has used meticulous detail to render the tactile qualities of the fabric. The folds and embellishments become focal points in themselves, existing almost independently of the body they adorn. We can understand this by looking at the structuralist theory of binary opposition, where the surface competes with depth. Notice too, how the muted colors and tight composition contribute to the overall restraint of the image. It's through this visual tension that Allori engages with ideas of representation and decorum of the time. The artist does not seek to give the illusion of reality; instead, he emphasizes the constructed nature of the image itself. This creates a dialogue between the artwork and its viewer that continues to evolve.