# A Genoese Lady with Her Child

**Anthony van Dyck** (Flemish, 1599–1641)  
c. 1623–25  
oil on canvas  
Framed: 266.5 x 184 x 12 cm (104 15/16 x 72 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 217.8 x 146 cm (85 3/4 x 57 1/2 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1954.392. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1954.392).

## 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._

Anthony van Dyck painted this in about 1623–25, aged about 24. It is now at 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Flanders
- The artist was about 24
- Real size: about 86 × 57 in (218 × 146 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 17th century
- Colour: red
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/605.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/605/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/a-genoese-lady-with-her-child-cma-131819).