Whose is the girl with the quiff at Palazzo Barberini?

A painting exhibited at Palazzo Barberini, in Rome, could be the work of Caravaggio.

This is the Portrait of a Young Woman (The Girl with the Tuft), an 80x65 centimeter canvas which depicts a woman dressed in black with a tuft of black hair on her forehead. The painting belonged to Cardinal Antonio Barberini, who attributed it to Caravaggio, but there is no certain proof of its authorship.

There are many hypotheses from art historians who have studied him. Among these, Maria Cristina Terzaghi, who held a conference dedicated to the work at Palazzo Barberini.

The woman portrayed could be Filide Melandroni, a Roman courtesan who was Caravaggio's model for other works, such as Judith and Holofernes, Saint Catherine and Martha and Magdalene.

In the past, the painting was worth 80 scudi, a considerable sum that could only be justified by the hypothesis that it was the work of a great master, although there is no definitive evidence to this effect.

In fact, the information available is not sufficient to confirm with certainty the attribution of this painting, which certainly possesses typical characteristics of Caravaggio's style. Belonging to the category of portraits made towards the end of the sixteenth century.