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Look from the woman’s calm face down the long red gown to the small child in blue reaching up for her hand.
Until the 1600s, grand full-length portraits of rich patrons put rank and wealth ahead of a lively likeness. Van Dyck, who worked in Italy from 1621 to 1627, transformed the type in Genoa and quickly changed the course of portraiture among the city’s elite. The unknown sitter’s gown and the picture’s size still mark her status, but her warm face, the dramatic background and the child reaching up for her hand give the picture life.
oil on canvas · Framed: 266.5 x 184 x 12 cm · Cleveland Museum of Art · Baroque
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Details and source
- Museum title
- A Genoese Lady with Her Child
- Artist
- Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641)
- Date
- c. 1623–25
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 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.)
- Credit line
- Gift of the Hanna Fund
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.