Magdalena Strozzi's portrait in Pushkin museum (2016) by shakko 02

Maddalena Doni is depicted in a half-length pose against a serene landscape, her hands clasped in her lap in a manner reflecting Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. She wears a sumptuously detailed gown of blue and red silk, with a prominent jeweled pendant featuring a large pearl and a small unicorn. Her direct gaze and the clarity of the atmospheric background exemplify the High Renaissance focus on naturalism and human dignity.

As a member of the Strozzi family, Maddalena belonged to the social and intellectual elite of Florence who supported the Neoplatonic revival. The presence of the unicorn on her jewelry serves as an emblem of purity and moral virtue, reflecting the period's philosophical belief in the correspondence between physical beauty and the state of the soul.