The painting in question is certainly one of his finest works in this field, traditionally believed to be the portrayal of a woman from the Fugger family, who were among the artist’s most important private patrons. In the past, this theory was backed up 

by Piero Boccardo’s observation regarding its potential entry into the Spinola Collection in Genoa in the 17th century, identifying it as a work described as “a half portrait of a woman” purchased in Augsburg by Giovanni Filippo Spinola in 1660 and of a very similar size to the canvas in question (“A half portrait painting of a woman by Bordonone measuring approximately five palms high and five palms wide [?], which I purchased in August”). More recently, Boccardo himself amended this proposed provenance,1 noting that 18th-century descriptions of the Genoese work also mentioned, in addition to the red dress, “a pure red mesh on her head”, which is missing from the painting in question. Effectively, the Fuggers were among Bordon’s first Venetian patrons and also asked the painter to travel to Augsburg for work, causing him to move there from 1540 to 1543. The architectural setting, in keeping with the customs and preferences of a northern clientele, were also taken into consideration when confirming the “Germanic” conception of the painting. However, as Giordana Mariani Canova rightly observed, one has to admit the possibility that the lady may have deliberately chosen to immortalise herself in Venetian clothes, in keeping with a love of Venice that was apparent both in painting and in dress. It therefore seems advisable to consider the painting as one of the finest examples of a portrait produced by Paris for a prestigious Venetian patron and to acknowledge it instead, as Donati (2014) seems to propose, as the painting formerly in the Pesaro Collection in Venice, described, with the same dimensions, in the collection inventories of 1797.2
Over and beyond the potential provenance of the canvas, it certainly features some of Paris’s best painting qualities: the cold, central Italian Manneristic clarity of the faces and the setting combined with the tender flesh tones, achieved thanks to careful study of the example set by Titian. The fine textures and the virtuoso lighting effects on the girl’s iridescent dress, which seems to be lit up by flames of colour, are equally characteristic of the painter’s interpretation of Venetian tonalism. As in the best examples of his work, Paris succeeds in combining a solid sculptural effect and draughtsmanship (resulting from his careful study of Tuscan and Roman Mannerism and certain ideas inspired by Antonio de’ Sacchis known as Il Pordenone) with the textural and mimetic effects that rework the magical touch typical of the great Venetian tradition of Titian. 

Nicholas Penny recently emphasised the similarity of the architecture in this painting with the Portrait of a Young Woman at the National Gallery in London and dated around 1545, a date that certainly also seems probable for the work in question and preferable to the previously proposed date of c. 1530. Effective comparisons can also be made with the Portrait of a Woman in the Galleria Palatina degli Uffizi, another work that could be ascribed to the artist’s maturity as a painter. In terms of the style of the clothing too, the work is compatible with a date of around 1545- 50.3 

The female figure probably intends to present herself to the viewer as an example of feminine virtue. In her right hand she holds a small book that could easily be conceived to be a prayer book, while behind her is an extensively draped statue, whose head is out of sight (Modesty?) and a bas-relief tondo in which we can see a knight, perhaps identifiable as St George: a figure who can also be associated with the concept of virtue and the battle against vice.