Her hair tightly pulled back with silk ribbon, her cheeks pale, and her lips bare, Countess Pace Rivola Spini appears awkward or overwhelmed by her extravagant dress, bulging with heavy, colorful silk panels, and cinched at the waist with a white bow. Giovanni Battista Moroni’s “Pace Rivola Spini” (circa 1573-75) reveals a noblewoman with a defiant streak, depicted by her deliberate gaze at the viewer.

The 77½-inch-by-38⅝-inch oil on canvas may be first independent full-length portrait of a standing woman painted in Italy. It is among nearly two dozen groundbreaking Moroni portraits to be displayed alongside resplendent Renaissance jewelry, armor, and other luxury goods for “Moroni: The Riches of Renaissance Portraiture” at The Frick Collection in New York City.