Attributed to Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen, also called Cornelius Johnson (English, 1593-1661)
or possibly Marcus Geeraerts the Younger (Flemish, 1561-1635, active in England)
Portrait of a Lady of the Lennox Family, ca. 1615-20
Oil on panel
35 1/8 x 27 1/8 inches
Museum Purchase
1976.99
The sitter for this elegant English portrait was likely Katherine, wife of Esme Stuart, third Duke of Lennox. She wears a bouquet of pansies on her head and a black cord wrapped around her wrist and tied to the ring on her finger, both common accessories of the period. Although the artistic attribution remains in question, the style of the portrait is marked by careful observation, highly refined, delicate details, exquisite technique, and a sensitive rendering of the sitter’s likeness, all indicative of the work of Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen.
