This large-scale portrait evokes the grandeur of Genoese palazzos at a time when Genoa was one of the wealthiest cities in Europe—as it was during Van Dyck’s years-long stay in the city in the 1620s. The sitter’s identity remains unknown, though her sumptuous gold and white clothing, marked across her chest with a black sash and framed by black-edged ruffs, may indicate her status as a widow. This portrait is an example of the kind of stately, elegant portraiture Van Dyck conceived for his aristocratic and noble patrons of Genoese society. He elongates the sitter’s proportions and paints her from slightly below, so that she seems very tall. This was a way of flattering his subjects, making them as lofty as possible.
Genoese Noblewoman
Van Dyck spent most of his Italian years in Genoa, a thriving Mediterranean port with an important Flemish community. In the wake of Peter Paul Rubens, who had preceded him there in the first decade of the century, he provided the city’s noble families with grand portraits, many of which still adorn their palaces. This portrait of a luxuriously dressed young woman standing against a loosely defined architectural background is a typical example. Although she remains unidentified, the sash across her torso and the black edges of her cuffs seem to indicate she is a widow.
Earl of Aberdeen. Duke of Abercorn. Frick, 1914.
Source: Paintings in The Frick Collection: American, British, Dutch, Flemish and German. Volume I. New York: The Frick Collection, 1968.
