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Core Record |
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| Title | Portrait of a Lady in Spanish Costume | |
| Alternative Title | Queen Elizabeth; Queen Mary, Consort of Philip of Spain | |
| Collection | Holburne Museum of Art, Bath | |
| Artist | Dutch School Previously attributed to after Hemessen, Katharina van (early Netherlandish painter, 1528-after 1587) Previously attributed to French School Previously attributed to Hemessen, Katharina van (early Netherlandish painter, 1528-after 1587) Previously attributed to Zuccaro, Federico (Italian painter and draftsman, ca. 1541-1609) |
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| Date Earliest | about 1580 | |
| Date Latest | about 1590 | |
| Description | The lady's hairstyle and dress were fashionable in Spain around 1580-90. The armillary sphere on her chain-girdle and acorn aiglets on her dress could provide clues to her identity. Similarities in her appearance with Antonis Mor's The Duchess of Feria (about 1560-70, Prado) raise the question as to whether this is possibly a later portrait of the Duchess, née Jane Former, who helped English Catholic noblewomen flee to Spain after the death of Mary Tudor. The portrait was painted by a Dutch artist, although the long-standing attribution to Katharina van Hemessen is no longer viable. | |
| Current Accession Number | A95 | |
| Subject | portrait (woman, lady) | |
| Measurements | 36.8 x 27.9 cm cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on panel | |
| Acquisition Details | Bequeathed by Miss Mary Anne Barbara Holburne 1882. | |
| Provenance | Sir Thomas William Holburne, by 1867-74; by descent to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882), 1874. | |
| Principal Exhibitions | Women's Art Show: 1550-1970, Nottingham Castle Museum, 1981. | |
| Publications | Catalogue of the Pictures and Library, Engravings, Etchings and Miniatures Belonging to Sir Thomas William Holburne, Bart., Bath, 1867, cat. no. 162, p. 7, as Queen Elizabeth by Zucchero; Chaffers, W., Catalogue of the Holburne of Menstrie Art Museum Bath, London, 1887, cat. no. 1481, p. 73, as Queen Elizabeth by Zucchero; Moeckler, F., Holburne of Menstrie Art Museum, Bath, 1902, cat. no. 189, p. 6, as Portrait of Queen Mary, Consort of Philip of Spain, unattributed, ill.; Catalogue, Pictures and Miniatures, I, 1927, cat. no. 149, as A Lady by Hemessen; The Holburne of Menstrie Museum, Catalogue, Pictures, I, Bath 1936, cat. no. 133, pp. 45-46, as A Lady by Katharina van Hemessen; Wright, C., Old Master Paintings in Britain: An Index of Continental Old Master Paintings Executed before c. 1800 in Public Collections in the United Kingdom, London, 1976, p. 89; De Clippel, K., Catharina van Hemessen (1528 - na 1567): Een monografische studie over een 'uytnemende wel geschickte vrouwe in de conste der schilderyen', Brussels, 2004, cat. no. A28, as dubiously attributed to Katharina van Hemessen. | |
| Notes | Karolien De Clippel described the attribution to Van Hemessen as highly doubtful, 2006; Alban Chaine attributed the work to the Dutch School, about 1580-90, 2006. | |
| Rights Owner | © The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath | |
| Author | Dr Susan Steer | |