Most of the paintings I put up here seem to be 19th or 20th century, so here's a much more ancient one for a change. This is Quintilia Fischieri, painted in around 1600 by Federico Barocci (Italian, 1535–1612), an esteemed Renaissance painter of whom (as so often) I had never heard. He seems mostly to have painted religious subjects, but this is very sweet and domestic. I haven't discovered who this young woman was, but the books on the table as well as the one in her hand suggest she must have been rather learned. So, indeed, does the fact that she's standing up reading -- as if she was in the middle of doing something else and couldn't resist picking up a book.