On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01495
- Author
- Dyck, Anton van (Flemish),
- Title
- Mary Ruthven, Lady van Dyck
- Chronology
- Ca. 1639
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 104 cm x 81 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
In 1639, Van Dyck married Mary
Ruthwen in England. This lady of
Scottish origin died in 1645.
He portrayed his wife with her hair
pulled back and an oak-leaf
headdress alluding to her husband's
name, which means “oak” or “holm
oak” in Dutch. She wears a shiny
blue dress with a large décolleté,
a pearl necklace and a bracelet
with which she plays before the
viewer in a gesture of clear
relaxation.
Given his relation with the model,
the artist imbues this portrait
with a broad sense of intimacy and
affection, embodied in her hands
and gaze. With this image, Van Dyck
distanced himself from the court
portraits he was painting in
England during those years, making
instead a closer painting of a
domestic and private nature.
In 1746, it appeared among the
paintings in the collection of
Queen Isabel Farnesio.
Location on the map
