D2009-CMD. Portrait of Queen Henrieta Maria.

Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669)

DatePossibly 1700-1750

After work by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 27 x 23 5/16in. (68.6 x 59.2cm) and Framed: 34 1/2 x 29 1/2in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1937-40

DescriptionA three-quarter-length portrait of a standing woman in a silver-colored dress, her body turned one-quarter toward the viewer's left, her proper left hand clutching a fold of her skirts and her proper right hand raised to waist height, holding two rose blooms. Her dark hair is slightly puffed about her face, with tendrils framing it. The dress has a large lace collar, three-quarter-length sleeves, and is trimmed in pearls, and she wears a pearl choker with drop pearl earrings. A table covered in a red drape fills the lower left corner of the picture, with a crown resting on it. The background is unconventional, with a blue and gold brocaded-looking vertical panel immediately behind the subject's head and part of her body but with the rest of the background filled with red, flame-like, horizontal striations.
The 3 3/4-inch gilded frame must be examined more closely regarding its date of fabrication as of 10/15/2008. Moving from an outer (rear) edge of fish-scales, the cyma recta molding is ornamented with low relief arabesque carving followed by a plain flat by an anthemion repeat on the sight edge.

Label TextCharles I became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1625, and soon married Henrietta Maria, daughter of the king of France. A power struggle between Charles and Parliament led to the English Civil War in 1642, establishment of a commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, and beheading of the king in 1649. Henrietta Maria took refuge in France.

These paintings are 18th-century copies of original works by Flemish artist Sir Anthony Van Dyck. The king and queen honored him with many special favors, including a knighthood. An estimated 40 portraits of Charles are credited to Van Dyck.

What’s the Connection?
Charles I appointed Sir William Berkeley governor of Virginia. Berkeley and other wealthy Virginians remained loyal to the doomed king during the English Civil War.

InscribedIn gilt lettering in the upper left corner (in a combination of lettering styles) is: "Queen Henrietta./After Vandyke". N. B. The second line was painted over at some point before CWF acquisition in 1937, when the two paintings (1937-40 and its companion, 1937-39) were sold as Van Dyck's work. The date and reason for the overpainting are undocumented. The second line was uncovered in routine CWF conservation work, probably in the late 1990s. (No report of this work was found in the object file 10/15/08).
ProvenanceThe so-titled "approbation note" from CWF's source, Lenygon & Morant, Inc., New York, NY, of 10 November 1936, states that this portrait and its companion, 1937-39, were "from the collection of the Marquis of Waterford."