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A pale-skinned woman sits on a red velvet chair, which is almost entirely hidden by her voluminous, dark emerald-green and gold gown, in this vertical portrait painting. The woman sits in the center of a shadowed, cavernous space, and her body and dress nearly fill the composition. Her body is turned slightly to our right, and she looks at us from the corners of her large, dark eyes. She has a round face, slightly flushed cheeks, and her full, rose-pink lips are closed. Her tawny-brown hair is pulled back under a headband that glints silver over her right ear, to our left. A goldenrod-yellow flower is tucked into her hair near that spot. Her tall, gossamer lace ruff collar is pleated into figure-eights, and it spans the width of her shoulders. Dots of white paint suggest detailing along the pleated edges. The fabric of her gown is so dark green that it appears black in some places, and it is decorated with bands of gold embroidery down the front of the bodice and full skirt, and around the bottom hem. A cape-like garment splits over long, puffy sleeves, which end with pleated, fog-gray fabric at the wrist. The cape and sleeves are densely ornamented with vegetal designs in glimmering gold. She rests her left elbow, on our right, on the arm of her chair so her hand rests palm up, near her waist. The other hand hangs off the end of the other arm of the chair, which is covered by her sleeve. A closed, black and gold fan hangs on a gold chain near that hand. Her skirt brushes the carpet, which is patterned with floral designs in ruby red, mustard yellow, and charcoal gray. The only parts of the chair that we see are a gold orb finial over her right shoulder, to our left, and the velvet-covered arm of the chair on the opposite side. Above the woman to our right hangs the edge of a muted gold curtain. The woman is lit from behind us, and the space around her is largely swallowed in shadow. Another curtain is lifted in the room behind her. Through it, we look out onto a landscape with a stone tower and buildings under a sky swirled with parchment brown, steel gray, and a sweep of brick red.

Sir Anthony van Dyck

Marchesa Balbi, c. 1623

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 42

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 196.5 x 133.8 cm (77 3/8 x 52 11/16 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Accession Number

1937.1.49

Artists / Makers

Sir Anthony van Dyck (artist) Flemish, 1599 - 1641

Image Use

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Overview

In this majestic full-length portrait, Marchesa Balbi sits frontally in a high-backed chair, her elegant, deep-green dress trimmed with gold brocade billowing around her. She gazes directly out at the viewer with disarming warmth, given the extraordinary sumptuousness of her costume. With one hand resting on her lap and the other dangling a fan against her dress, she seems relaxed and natural, and the portrait feels unexpectedly personal despite its large scale and imposing grandeur.

Anthony van Dyck had a remarkable ability to understand his patrons' personalities and to reflect them in his portraiture. Although the precise identity of this young and attractive member of the Balbi family is not known, the Balbis were prominent members of the Genoese aristocracy. They commissioned a number of portraits from Van Dyck in the mid-1620s. His relationship with the Balbi family may even have preceded his trip to Italy, as a branch of the family lived in his hometown of Antwerp.

The grand, elegant style of this painting owes much to Van Dyck's one-time mentor Peter Paul Rubens, who had traveled to Genoa in the first decades of the 17th century and executed a number of imposing portraits, such as Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria (also in the Gallery's collection). Van Dyck would have seen these portraits after he arrived in Genoa in 1621. Although Van Dyck was inspired by Rubens's portraits, he brought an entirely different expressive character to his own work. In this example, he has softened the architectural qualities of the Marchesa's costume and introduced elements of informality in her pose and in the undulating ripple in the oriental carpet beneath the her feet, further enhancing the portrait's engaging tenderness and candor.

Provenance

Balbi family Genoa, until 1819. Possibly Auguste de Sivry, Venice.[1] Baron John Benjamin Heath [1790-1879, British consul at Genoa]; sold 1836, in London, to Robert Staynor Holford [1802-1892], Dorchester House, London; by inheritance to his son, Sir George Lindsay Holford, K.C.V.O. [1860-1926], Dorchester House; his estate; purchased February 1926 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] purchased February 1926 by Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[3] gift 1937 to NGA.

[1] Giorgio Balbi (letter of 14 August 1958, in NGA curatorial files) wrote that he knew the painting was in the Palazzo Balbi until 1819. It was not certain when the painting was sold by the family, or by which member of the family.

Michael Jaffé, in Bernhart Schwenk and Bettina-Martine Wolder, eds., Kunst in der Republik Genua 1528-1815, exh. cat., Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 1992: 65-66, discusses some of the possibilities. Additional provenance information is suggested by Pietro Boccardo ("Ritratti di Genovesi di Rubens e di van Dyck: contesto e identificazioni," in Susan J. Barnes and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., eds., Van Dyck 350, Hanover and London, 1994: 88, 97 note 41), who notes that Giorgio Balbi, in his article "Fatti e misfatti di un palazzo Balbi," Genova (1958): 29 note 7, indicates that he owned a lithograph by P. Vogt, published by Barozzi in Venice, that depicts Marchesa Balbi. This lithograph identifies the owner of the painting as Auguste de Sivry in Venice ("M.me la marquise Balbi de Genes. L'original appartient à Monsieur Auguste de Sivry à Venise"). Although the date of the lithograph is not known, this information seems to indicate that the painting was sold by the Balbi family to Auguste de Sivry before it entered the collection of Baron Heath.

[2] Provenance prior to Mellon is according to Anthony van Dyck, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1990: 144.

[3] Mellon purchase date and date deeded to trust is according to Mellon records in NGA curatorial files and David Finley's notebook donated to the National Gallery of Art in 1977, now in the Gallery Archives.

Associated Names

Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Heath, John Benjamin, Baron
Holford, George Lindsay, Sir
Holford, Robert Stayner
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, The A.W.
Mellon, Andrew W.

Exhibition History

1836: Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, and French Masters, British Institution, London, 1836, no. 103.

1862: Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French, and English Masters, British Institution, London, 1862, no. 35.

1870: Exhibition of the Works of the Old Masters. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1870, no. 26, as A Portrait.

1887: Exhibition of the Works of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1887, no. 77, as The Marchesa Balbi of Genoa.

1900: Exhibition of Works by Van Dyck 1599-1641. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1900, no. 70.

1913: Second National Loan Exhibition: Woman and Child in Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1913-1914, no. 100, repro.

1990: Anthony van Dyck, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1990-1991, no. 24, color repro.

1992: Genova nell'età Barocca, Galleria Nazionale della Liguria (in the Palazzo Spinola di Pellicceria), Genoa, 1992, no. 169, repro.

1992: Kunst in der Republik Genua 1528-1815, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 1992, no. 11, repro., as Bildnis einer vornehmen Genueserin.

1997: Van Dyck a Genova: Grande pittura e collezionismo, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, 1997, no. 36, repro.

Bibliography

n.d.: Barnes, Susan J. "La società genovese nei ritratti di Van Dyck." In Boccardo, Piero, Clario Di Dabo, et al., eds. Pittura Fiamminga in Ligura secoli XIV-XVII. Genoa, 1997: 234, 237.

n.d.: Law, Ernest. "The Van Dyck Exhibition at the Royal Academy - II." The Magazine of Art (1900): 203, repro. (detail).

1829: Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 9(1842):395, no. 96.

1854: Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.. 3 vols. Translated by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake. London, 1854: 2:200.

1870: Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters. Winter Exhibition. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1870: 5, no. 26.

1882: Guiffrey, Jules. Antoine van Dyck - sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris, 1882: 257, no. 365.

1887: Blaikie, J. A. "Van Dyck." The Magazine of Art 10 (1887): 200, 203-204, repro. (detail).

1887: Exhibition of the Works of Sir Anthony van Dyck. Exh. cat. Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1887: 71, no. 77.

1887: Phillips, Claude. "Correspondance d'Angleterre. Expositions rétrospectives de la Royal Academy et de la Grosvenor Gallery." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 35 (1887): 258.

1899: Manotti, Mario. "Ritratto di Antonio van Dyck." L'Arte 2 (1899): 254.

1900: Cust, Lionel. Anthony van Dyck. An Historical Study of His Life and Works. London, 1900: 42, 203, no. 77, 220, no. 70, 241, no. 65.

1900: Exhibition of Works by Van Dyck 1599-1641. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1900: 30, no. 70.

1909: Schaeffer, Emil. Van Dyck: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben. Stuttgart, 1909: 20, 198, repro.

1911: Cust, Lionel. Anthony van Dyck - A Further Study by Lionel Cust.... New York and London, 1911: unpaginated, repro.

1913: Second National Loan Exhibtiion: Woman and Child in Art. Exh. cat. Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1913: 153-154, no. 100, repro.

1931: Glück, Gustav. Van Dyck: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 13. Revised 2nd ed. New York and Stuttgart, 1931: 196, 540, repro.

1937: Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 37-38.

1941: De Tolnay, Charles. "Flemish Paintings in the National Gallery of Art." Magazine of Art 34 (April 1941): 197, repros.

1941: Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 184, repro.

1941: Held, Julius S. "Masters of Northern Europe, 1430-1660 in the National Gallery." Art News 40, no. 8 (June 1941): [10], repro.

1941: Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 204, no. 49.

1941: Reder, Jacob. The Portraits of the Brignole-Sale Family in the Palazzo Rosso in Genoa by Sir Anthony van Dyck. New York, 1941: 10, 14, 16, no. 13, repro.

1942: Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 41.

1949: Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 70, repro.

1950: Puyvelde, Leo van. Van Dyck. Brussels and Paris, 1950: 112, 140, 145, 146, repro. (facing 109).

1952: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 94, color repro.

1958: Balbi, G. "Fatti e misfatti di un Palazzo Balbi." Genova 35, no. 8 (1958): 28, 29, repro.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 310, repro.

1965: Jaffé, Michael. "Van Dyck Portraits in the De Young Museum and Elsewhere." Arts Quarterly 28 (1965): 43.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 46.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:276, color repro.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 39, repro.

1970: Hubala, Erich. Die Kunst des 17. Jahrhunderts. Vol. 9. Berlin, 1970: 9: 58.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 118, repro.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 263, repro.

1980: Larsen, Erik. L’opera completa di Van Dyck. 2 vols. Classici dell'arte 102-103. Milan, 1980: 1: 106-107, no. 304, 108, repro.

1984: Spike, John T. Baroque Portraiture in Italy: Works from North American Collections. (Exh. cat. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; and the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 1984-1985) Sarasota, 1984: 214, no. 62, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 263, no. 336, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 143, repro.

1985: Larsen, Erik. Seventeenth Century Flemish Painting. Freren, 1985: 170.

1986: Barnes, Susan J. "Van Dyck in Italy 1621-1628." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1986: 1: 101, 305-306, no. 68; 2; no. 212, repro.

1987: Boccardo, Piero, and Lauro Magnani. "La Committenza." In Lamera, Federica, and Girorgio Pigafetta, eds. Il Palazzo dell'Università di Genoa. Il Collegio dei Gesuiti nella Strada dei Balbi. Genoa, 1987: 48, 79 n. 13.

1988: Larsen, Erik. The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck. 2 vols. Freren, 1988: 1:202, 204, repro.; 2:135, no. 328.

1990: Wheelock, Arthur K. Jr., Susan J. Barnes, et at. Anthony van Dyck. (Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art). Washington, 1990: 144-146, no. 24, repro.

1991: Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 101, color repro.

1991: Ydema, Onno. Carpets and Their Datings in Netherlandish Paintings, 1540-1700. Zutphen, 1991: 157, no. 386.

1992: Bauman, Guy C., and Walter A. Liedtke. Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Fleming Paintings in the Public Collections of America. Antwerp, 1992: 333, no. 223, repro.

1992: Gavazza, Ezia, and Giovanni Rotondi Terminiello, eds. Genova nell'Età Barocca. (Exh. cat. Galleria Nazionale della Liguria.) Bologna, 1992: 272, 273, 274-276, no. 169, repro.

1992: Schwenk, Bernhart, and Battina-Martine Wolter, eds. Kunst in der Republick Genua 1528-1815. (Exh. cat. Schirn Kunsthalle.) Frankfurt, 1992: 28, 65-66, no. 11, 12, repro.

1994: Boccardo, Piero. "Ritratii di Genovesi di Rubens e di Van Dyck: Contesto ed identificazioni." In Barnes, Susan J., and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., eds. Van Dyck 350. Hanover and London, 1994: 88, 97 nn. 39-41.

1994: Moir, Alfred. Anthony van Dyck. New York, 1994: 70-71, no. 12, repro.

1996: Gritsai, Natalia. Anthony Van Dyck. Bournemouth and Saint Petersburg, 1996: 86, repro.

1997: Banu, Georges. Le Rideau ou la fêlure du monde, Paris, 1997, p. 29, repro.

1997: Barnes, Susan J. "Van Dyck a Genova." In Barnes, Susan, Piero Boccardo, et al. Van Dyck a Genova. Grande pittura e collezionosmo (Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale.) Genoa, 1997: 71.

1997: Barnes, Susan, Piero Boccardo, et al. Van Dyck a Genova. Grande pittura e collezionismo. (Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale.) Genoa, 1997: 230-231, no. 36, repro.

1997: Boccardo, Piero. "Ritratti di collezionisti e committenti." In Barnes, Susan, Piero Boccardo, et al. Van Dyck a Genova. Grande pittura e collezionismo. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale.) Genoa, 1997: 53, 57 n. 2.

1997: Grendi, Edoardo. I Balbi: Una famiglia genovese fra Spagna E Impero. Turin, 1997, 123.

2000: Blake, Robin. Anthony van Dyck. A Life 1599-1641. Chicago, 2000: 149, no. 17, 150-151, 183, 229, repro.

2004: Barnes, Susan J. Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings. New Haven, 2004: II.99, repro.

2005: Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Flemish Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2005: 53-56, color repro.

2020: Libby, Alexandra. “From Personal Treasures to Public Gifts: The Flemish Painting Collection at the National Gallery of Art.” In America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and their Circles, edited by Esmée Quodbach. The Frick Collection Studies in the History of Art Collecting in America 5. University Park, 2020: 132-133, 134, color fig. 77.