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A woman with pale, peachy skin wearing elegant gold and ink-black garments sits in front of a stone portico in this vertical portrait painting. Her red armchair is angled to our right, but the woman turns to look at us under cocked brows. She has high, rosy cheekbones and a long straight nose. Her pink lips curve up in a smile framed by the faint suggestion of dimples. Her brown hair is pulled back under a gold band or net, and a gold earring hangs from the ear we see. Her gold dress has a fitted bodice with a line of buttons down the front and puffy, brocaded sleeves. She wears the bodice over a white chemise, which comes nearly to the double strand of pearls worn like a choker around her neck. Frothy white lace surges up to encircle the back of her neck, and more lace stretches back along her forearms from the cuffs of her gold dress. The black cloak she wears over the dress splits over the sleeves and flares up behind the neck, echoing the lace. A long gold chain weaves back and forth across the open front of the black cloak, which is patterned with black on black. The woman wears a ring on her right hand, which rests in her lap and holds a white flower. The cloak stops at the woman’s knees to reveal a gold and red striped skirt. The woman’s other hand, farther from us, rests along the arm of the chair and holds an ostrich' feather fan with a silver handle. A scarlet-red curtain in the upper left corner above the chair gives way to a view into a courtyard lined with a portico along the right side. The portico has three openings separated by wide, horizontally ribbed columns. Ornamental shells, creatures, and people are carved into the face of the portico, and bright green trees are just visible through the openings. Gray and white clouds sweep across a vivid blue sky around the woman’s head.

Isabella Brant

Sir Anthony van Dyck

A woman with pale, peachy skin wearing elegant gold and ink-black garments sits in front of a stone portico in this vertical portrait painting. Her red armchair is angled to our right, but the woman turns to look at us under cocked brows. She has high, rosy cheekbones and a long straight nose. Her pink lips curve up in a smile framed by the faint suggestion of dimples. Her brown hair is pulled back under a gold band or net, and a gold earring hangs from the ear we see. Her gold dress has a fitted bodice with a line of buttons down the front and puffy, brocaded sleeves. She wears the bodice over a white chemise, which comes nearly to the double strand of pearls worn like a choker around her neck. Frothy white lace surges up to encircle the back of her neck, and more lace stretches back along her forearms from the cuffs of her gold dress. The black cloak she wears over the dress splits over the sleeves and flares up behind the neck, echoing the lace. A long gold chain weaves back and forth across the open front of the black cloak, which is patterned with black on black. The woman wears a ring on her right hand, which rests in her lap and holds a white flower. The cloak stops at the woman’s knees to reveal a gold and red striped skirt. The woman’s other hand, farther from us, rests along the arm of the chair and holds an ostrich' feather fan with a silver handle. A scarlet-red curtain in the upper left corner above the chair gives way to a view into a courtyard lined with a portico along the right side. The portico has three openings separated by wide, horizontally ribbed columns. Ornamental shells, creatures, and people are carved into the face of the portico, and bright green trees are just visible through the openings. Gray and white clouds sweep across a vivid blue sky around the woman’s head.

Details
Palette

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Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 153 x 120 cm (60 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.) framed: 185.4 x 151.1 cm (73 x 59 1/2 in.)
Department
CNE-B
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

10 tags

Subject Matter

  • Individual Portrait Both · 99%

    The title identifies Isabella Brant, and the image presents a single individualized sitter in a formal seated pose.

  • Face Both · 99%

    The sitter’s face is prominently presented with carefully rendered features, a direct gaze, and a slight smile; the catalog description also specifically describes her facial features.

  • Related to Fashion Both · 97%

    The sitter’s elaborate gold and black garments, lace, pearls, chain, earring, ring, and accessories are central to the image and are detailed in the catalog description.

Styles and Movements

  • Baroque Interpretive · 84%

    The 1621 date, theatrical drapery, rich costume, strong contrasts, and ornate architectural setting are consistent with Baroque portraiture; this classification is an art-historical interpretation rather than an explicit field in the supplied catalog metadata.

Visual Qualities

  • Dark Colors Visual · 96%

    Black garments and deep shadowed areas occupy much of the composition, contrasted with lighter skin, lace, gold fabric, and the sky.

  • Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 87%

    Strong red, gold, blue, and green passages provide vivid accents within the predominantly dark portrait.

  • Asymmetrical Visual · 96%

    The red curtain occupies the upper left while the architectural portico and open courtyard extend through the right side, producing an asymmetrically organized composition.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The National Gallery of Art identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

  • Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Visual · 89%

    Visible brushwork is fluid and directional, especially in the curtain, sky, architecture, lace, and reflective costume surfaces.

Time Periods

  • 17th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog dates the work to 1621, placing it in the seventeenth century.

Source & rights

Sir Anthony van Dyck. Isabella Brant. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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