The Marriage Portrait Themes

In The Marriage Portrait, art is often used as a means of control. Alfonso seeks to tame Lucrezia’s rebellious spirit by forcing her to sit for a marriage portrait, in which he fully controls her appearance and exercises his implicit ownership of her as her husband (a sense of ownership that was common in their possessive and highly patriarchal society). Alfonso’s gaze—and the voyeuristic scrutiny of others in the Ferrarese court—weighs heavily…

In The Marriage Portrait, both Alfonso and Lucrezia’s identities undergo significant shifts. For Alfonso, this change is characterized as a dual personality, as when Maurizio aptly compares him to the Egyptian god Janus “with two faces.” As their marriage progresses, Lucrezia becomes disconcerted by the frequent shifts in Alfonso’s demeanor. One moment, he will treat her with tenderness and compassion, only to fly into a rage over some minor transgression the next. Additionally…

Throughout the novel, Lucrezia takes great comfort in the natural world and in animals. At a young age, she encounters a tiger in Cosimo’s menagerie, and she describes the experience as beholding “the visage of an incandescent, forbidden deity.” Lucrezia feels deep pity for the imprisoned beast and is so heartbroken when she learns of its death that she falls ill for weeks. The tiger becomes a symbol of raw will and primal freedom…

Though the characters frequently grapple with the idea that destinies are predetermined and immutable, the novel seeks to disprove this by underscoring the impact of random chance. Reflecting on her own distracted state of mind during the intercourse that led to Lucrezia’s conception, Eleonora blames herself for her fifth child’s restless and wild nature. Here, Eleonora believes that her preoccupation with maps and adventure has doomed Lucrezia, ruining her chances for a successful life…