Lady Diana Cecil, Countess of Oxford and Elgin (1596 - 1654)
after Cornelius Johnson (London 1593 - Utrecht 1661)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1616 - 1654
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
749 x 622 mm (29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in)
Order this imageCollection
Dunham Massey, Cheshire
NT 932280
Caption
Lady Diana Cecil, Countess of Oxford and Elgin (c.1603-1654) was the middle daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter (d.1640) and Elizabeth Drury (1579-1654), and twin sister of Anne Cecil, Countess of Stamford (c.1603-1676). She married firstly, Henry Vere, 18th and last Earl of Oxford (1593-1625) in 1624. He died the following year in The Hague and she married secondly Thomas Bruce, (1599-1663) in 1629. He was created Earl of Elgin in 1633. His portrait, by the same artist, is also at Dunham Massey. This portrait is a copy of the head and shoulders of the full-length at the Ranger’s House in Blackheath.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Lady Diana Cecil, Countess of Oxford and Elgin (1596 - 1654), after Cornelius Johnson (London 1593 - Utrecht 1661). A half-length portrait of a mature woman, turned slightly to the left, gazing at the spectator, wearing a black dress with stiff lace ruff, short dark hair, dressed at the back with pearls. She also wears pearl drop-earrings, and a single-strand necklace of pearls knotted at the waist and looped up to a red jewel worn just beneath the left breast. Painted inscription across the bottom: Lady Diana Cecil / Countess of Oxford / and Elgin. The Countess of Oxford and Elgin was a sister in law of the 1st Earl of Stamford.
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust with the house, estate and all the contents of Dunham Massey by Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford (1896 - 1976)
Marks and inscriptions
(labelled)
Makers and roles
after Cornelius Johnson (London 1593 - Utrecht 1661), artist