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Description: | The identity of the woman in this portrait has not been determined, although suggestions have included the young Infanta of Spain. In 1816, the picture hung in the Great Hall at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. The date of 1618 and the extreme elaboration of the dress suggest that the sitter is a lady of the court of King James I. This bolstered by the fact that Gheeraerdts was the official court painter to Anne of Denmark, the King's Consort. The painting tells us a great deal about contemporary costume. The lace is dyed a deep yellow, a short-lived fashion of the period. Other markers of status and wealth are employed. For example, while it was unfashionable to wear obvious signs of wealth, such as jewels, the rich furnishings of the space in which the woman stands signal her social standing and status. This portrait may have been painted at the time of the young woman's marriage. If this was the case, Gheeraerdts would also have been commissioned to paint the sitter's husband, a work which has not yet been identified (Wright, 2002, p. 68). | Subjects: | portrait | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Geeraerts, Marcus, the younger (Flemish painter, 1561-1635, active in England) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8715... | Go to resource |
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