Portrait of Cristina Trivulzio Belgiojoso

Francesco Hayez painted Portrait of Cristina Trivulzio Belgiojoso around 1832, depicting one of the most remarkable Italian women of the Risorgimento — the princess who used her aristocratic wealth and political connections to support the independence movement, eventually living in exile after participating in the Milanese uprising of 1848. At the time of the portrait she was twenty-three years old, just beginning her extraordinary political career, and Hayez captures a young woman of remarkable intelligence and determination. The portrait is a major document of the Risorgimento's female dimension, and Hayez's treatment gives the princess the dignity appropriate both to her rank and to her political courage.

The portrait captures Belgiojoso's celebrated beauty and intense personality through Hayez's characteristic combination of Venetian color and Romantic sensibility. The dark background focuses attention on the luminous face and expressive eyes of the sitter.