Lady Diana Cecil, Countess of Oxford and Elgin (1596 - 1654)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1700 - 1799
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
749 x 623 mm (29 1/2 x 24 1/2 in)
Order this imageCollection
Dunham Massey, Cheshire
NT 932374
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.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Lady Diana Cecil, Countess of Oxford and Elgin (1596 - 1654), British (English) School, 18th century. A painted ova head-and-shoulders portrait of a woman, turned slightly to the left, gazing at the spectator, wearing a low-cut black dress with a brooch composed of pearls with a drop pearl at her bosom. She also wears a choker necklace consisting of a single string of pearls, and has drop-pearl earrings. Her brown curled hair, with curls across the brow, is dressed with pearls and falls in tresses on her right shoulder The Countess of Oxford and Elgin was a sister in law of the 1st Earl of Stamford. Inscription, bottom left.
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
British (English) School, artist previously catalogued as attributed to Cornelius Johnson (London 1593 - Utrecht 1661), artist