Lady with a Fan

Sir Anthony van Dyck

National Gallery of Art

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a voluminous, gold-trimmed, white satin gown and a black overdress stands holding a closed fan in this vertical portrait painting. Her body and face are angled to our right, and she looks at us from the corners of her gray eyes. She has pale skin, a straight nose, thin lips, and a slight double chin. Chin-length brown waves frame her face, and the rest of her hair is pulled back. A pearl necklace lies at the base of her neck, though traces of another necklace, originally painted higher up on the neck like a choker, are visible. A lace-edged collar lies along her shoulders, and more lace lines a kerchief tucked into the low, straight neckline of her bodice. The gown’s puffy sleeves are tied around the elbows and end in wide lace-lined cuffs at the wrists. The sleeves and the front and bottom edges of the bodice are lined in glittery gold. A bejeweled gold brooch nestled in black lace is pinned to the front of her gown. A gold chain links the brooch to one side of the bodice before draping across her chest and lying over the other shoulder. A white satin ribbon is tied with a bow around her waist over the black overdress, which has subtle suggestions of a black-on-black pattern down the front. The fan is in her left hand, to our right, perhaps attached to a length of gold chain visible under her wrist. Her other hand rests in the folds of the black overdress. Some brushstrokes are visible in the woman’s clothing and in the walnut-brown background.