Portrait of a Flemish Lady

Sir Anthony van Dyck

National Gallery of Art

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wears a wide, pleated collar and a black gown in this vertical portrait painting. Her body is angled to our left, and she looks at us from the corners of her light brown eyes. She has low brows, a straight nose, and her thin lips are closed. Her hair is pulled back under a pearl-white headdress at the back of her head, and a few tendrils curl alongside her face. Pearls hang from the ear we can see. The figure-eight pleats of the collar are as tall as her neck so her chin rests on it, and it is nearly as wide as her shoulders. A gold-colored corset comes down in a long U shape over her belly. Her black dress has puffed shoulders, and white lace extends back from the cuffs of the long sleeves. The full, black skirt flares out from her waist. She wears gold bracelets on both wrists. Her left arm, to our right, hangs down in front of her, and she wears a ring on the third finger of that hand. The back of a chair is at her other elbow, which is bent so she can rest a loose fist against her corset. She wears a gold ring on that index finger. The sides of the back of the chair are studded with brass bosses, and a gold-colored finial is at the front. The background is earthy brown.