A Genoese Lady with Her Childc. 1623–25
Prior to the 1600s, large, full-length portraits of wealthy clients usually emphasized the trappings of status above any other qualities. More about this work
About this work
Prior to the 1600s, large, full-length portraits of wealthy clients usually emphasized the trappings of status above any other qualities. The accuracy of the likeness and vivacity of the person remained subordinate to an easily readable sense of the sitter’s power and position in society. Artists such as Van Dyck transformed this tradition, which sent shockwaves through Genoa, instantly changing the direction of elite portraiture in the city. While the elaborate garb of this unidentified sitter and the scale of the image certainly mark her status, the warmth Van Dyck imparted to her face, the drama of the background, and the touching detail of the child spontaneously reaching upward add life, energy, and theatricality to the work.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Anthony van Dyck
Flemish, 1599–1641 · Born in Antwerp; died in London.
Van Dyck was the leading assistant in Rubens’s Antwerp studio before spending six years in Italy, chiefly in Genoa, where he painted the local aristocracy in elegant full-lengths. In 1632 he became principal painter to Charles I of England, and his portraits of the king, Queen Henrietta Maria and their court fixed the image of Caroline England and set the pattern for British portraiture for more than a century. He also conceived the Iconography, a series of etched portraits of notable contemporaries.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1954.392
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
