Maria Maddalena, Grand-Duchess of Tuscany (1589-1631), with her Eldest Son Grand-Duke Ferdinand II (1610-1670), and Youngest Daughter Anna de' Medici, later Archduchess of the Tyrol (1616-1676)
possibly Jacopo Ligozzi (Verona 1547 - Florence 1627)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1620 - 1630
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1111 x 857 mm (43 3/4 x 33 3/4 in)
Order this imageCollection
Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk
NT 1210311
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Maria Maddalena, Grand-Duchess of Tuscany (1589-1631), with her eldest son Grand-Duke Ferdinand II (1610-1670), and youngest daughter Anna de' Medici, later Archduchess of the Tyrol (1616-1676), possibly Jacopo Ligozzi (Verona 1547 - Florence 1627). A three-quarter-length portraits of a woman and two children. The Grand-Duchess is seated at the left, half-turned to the right, gazing at the spectator, and holding a closed fan in her right hand, her short dark hair is topped with a jewelled tiara, and she wears a richly embroidered gold and white brocade dress with an overdress of black, embroidered with gold, which has false sleeves. She also wears pendant drop-pearl earrings, a pearl necklet and two long ropes of pearls one of which is tied with a scarlet bow, also pearl bracelets. She wears a wide upstanding lace ruff parted in the front and lace cuffs. On the right is her son, standing, gazing at the spectator, wearing a red and gold tunic 'alla Romana', lace ruff, breastplate and a tall scarlet and white ostrich-feather hat, in his right hand he holds a sceptre. On lower left standing beside her mother's knee, is a small child in a red and gold brocade dress, with false sleeves and with scarlet bows in her short dark curly hair, she also wears a collar ruff and a single string of pearls which she holds in her left hand, her leading-strings, consisting of a red ribbon is attached to her back and is held in her mother's left hand, behind, on the right is an architectural colonnade, with cloudy sky above. Top left inscribed 'Anne of Denmark, Queen of James I'. White catalogue number '78'l.l.
Provenance
Possibly acquired by Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld, 6th Bt (1800-1862); late 19th-century list, no.78, as: "Anne of Denmark & children (panel)"; 1913 list, no.78, as: "Anne of Denmark. Queen of James I"; house sale, 1951, lot 695 (bought back); Part of the Bedingfeld collection; given to the National Trust by Sybil Lyne-Stephens, Lady Paston-Bedingfeld (1883 – 1985), 1961
Marks and inscriptions
Anne of Denmark, Queen of James I
Makers and roles
possibly Jacopo Ligozzi (Verona 1547 - Florence 1627), artist