On Tuesday 16 May 2023, at 5.00 pm , the National Galleries of Ancient Art present The girl with the forelock at Palazzo Barberini. A Caravaggesque portrait from the Barberini collection , a lecture by Maria Cristina Terzaghi on a portrait of a young woman who is exhibited to the public for the first time in the Sala Dei Ritratti from 11 May to 30 July 2023.

The Portrait of a young woman (Girl with a forelock) (oil on canvas, 80x65 cm) is mentioned for the first time among the works of Cardinal Antonio Barberini in 1644, and later among those mentioned in his post-mortem inventory of assets ( 1672), in which the «Portrait of a woman with a tuft of about 3 palms, with carved gilded frame, by Caravaggio» reappears. The painting was valued at 80 scudi: a decidedly high price for a small-sized canvas, certainly assigned to it by virtue of its presumed author. From Antonio's collection the work remained in the Barberini family, passing from hand to hand; it is now in a private collection.

The painting is similar to the Portrait of Fillide Melandroni by Caravaggio lost in the Second World War during the bombing of Berlin, but documented by various photographs.

The comparison between the Portrait of a young woman (The girl with a tuft) and the Portrait of Phyllis shows a great similarity between the two portrayed, so as to suggest that they may be the same person.