Portrait of a Woman, Called the Marchesa Durazzo

Portrait of a Woman, Called the Marchesa Durazzo

Portrait of a Woman, Called the Marchesa Durazzo
Artist:Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, Antwerp 1599–1641 London)
Date:probably ca. 1622–25
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:44 5/8 x 37 3/4 in. (113.3 x 95.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
Accession Number:14.40.615
During the six years he spent in Italy (1621–27), Van Dyck was frequently in Genoa, where he painted some of his most magnificent portraits. This sitter is traditionally identified as a member of the patrician Durazzo family. Whereas many of his portraits recall those of his older colleague Rubens, who had also painted in Genoa, this one testifies to Van Dyck’s admiration of the work of the great Venetian painter Titian (ca. 1485/90?–1576). The portrait has suffered from abrasion and relining, flattening its painterly effects.