An Unknown Lady with a Spaniel
manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1630 - circa 1669
Materials
oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Order this imageCollection
Dyrham, Gloucestershire
NT 453796
Caption
The sitter in this portrait has not yet been identified. Her dress and pose relate most closely to the portraits of Sir Anthony van Dyck, who worked at the court of Charles I (1600–1649). The picture appears in 19th-century inventories of Dyrham Park as a portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, with her dog. It may, however, represent an ancestor of William I Blathwayt (?1649–1717), who formed the collection at Dyrham Park, or of someone who married into the Blathwayt family. One possible contender is Frances Gerrard, the mother of Mary Wynter (1650–1691), who married William I Blathwayt in 1686. Since Mary died after only a few years of marriage, it is possible that the identification of the sitter in this portrait was lost to memory over time.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, An Unknown Lady with a Spaniel, by an artist working in the manner of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), mid 17th century. A three-quarter-length portrait of a woman in a landscape, turned to the right, her head turned to the viewer. She wears a white satin dress, with a red scarf, pearl necklace and earrings, and a brooch at her neckline. She holds her scarf with her left hand, held up towards her chest, and with her right hand she strokes the head of a spaniel, which stands up on its back legs in front of her and looks up towards her.
Provenance
Indigenous collection purchased by Ministry of Works in 1956 and given to Dyrham Park in 1961
Credit line
Dyrham Park, The Blathwayt Collection (acquired by the Ministry of Works via the National Land Fund in 1956, and transferred to the National Trust)
Makers and roles
manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), artist