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Portrait of a Lady of the Court as a Shepherdess
(Baroque Europe )
The romantic fantasy of shepherds and shepherdesses living in the wilds of Arcadia in Greece was a favored theme in ancient poetry that was revived in Renaissance Italy and around 1600 in the Netherlands. In the 1620s, Honthorst and Cornelis van Poelenburch created a fashion in elite circles for portraying young people in this way.
The sitter here may be Catherina Elizabeth von Hanau (1607-47) who married in 1628. In any case, she is a noblewoman from the court in The Hague; an engraving of this portrait is among those of the highest aristocracy reproduced in a publication of 1640, "The True Portraits of Some of the Greatest Ladies of Christendom Disguised as Shepherdesses." Honthorst flourished in Rome and Utrecht as a painter of tavern and religious scenes. Turning to portraiture, he enjoyed the patronage of the court, with assistants preparing portraits for him to touch up.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Earls of Craven, Combe Abbey [1866 Catalog no. 341]; Cornelia, Countess of Craven; Cornelia, Countess of Craven Sale, Sotheby and Co., London, November 27, 1968, no. 61; Walters Art Museum, 1968, by purchase.
Exhibitions
| 1971-1972 | World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 12/1/1980 | Treatment | examined for condition |
Geographies
Netherlands, The Hague (Place of Origin)
Measurements
29 11/16 x 24 7/16 in. (75.4 x 62 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds provided by the S. & A.P. Fund, 1968
Location in Museum
Charles Street: Second Floor: 17th-Century Dutch Cabinet Rooms
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.2457