Although the present painting entered the Museum as a work of Van Dyck, the reserved expression of the sitter and the meticulous handling of the details of the costume are characteristic of de Vos's work. This highly respected Antwerp portrait painter is known for his dignified portraits which nevertheless maintain a charming modesty. He particularly excelled in group portraits of children.
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Title:Portrait of a Woman
Artist:Cornelis de Vos (Flemish, Hulst 1584/85–1651 Antwerp)
Medium:Oil on wood
Dimensions:49 3/8 x 38 in. (125.4 x 96.5 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1889
Object Number:89.15.37
Robert Prioleau Roupell, London (by 1872–d. 1886; posthumous sale, Christie's, London, June 25, 1887, no. 51, as by Van Dyck, for £55.13); Henry G. Marquand, New York (1888–89)
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," 1872, no. 144 (as by Van Dyck, lent by Robert P. Roupell, Esq.).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Exhibition of 1888–89," 1888–89, no. 5 (as "Portrait," by Van Dyck).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed," December 6, 2001–March 17, 2002, no. 35.
W. Bode. "Alte Kunstwerke in den Sammlungen der Vereinigten Staaten." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, n.s., 6, no. 1 (1895), p. 17, calls it an entirely characteristic, excellent work by Cornelis de Vos.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. "Frühwerke des Anton van Dyck in Amerika." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, n.s., 21, no. 9 (1910), p. 227, fig. 5, as by Van Dyck.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. The Art of the Low Countries. English ed. Garden City, N.Y., 1914, p. 238, as by Van Dyck; dates it about 1618–20.
Millia Davenport. The Book of Costume. New York, 1948, vol. 2, p. 612, no. 1614, ill. p. 613.
Leo van Puyvelde. Van Dyck. Brussels, 1950, p. 131, attributes it to Cornelis de Vos.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 32.
Edith Greindl. Letter to Margaretta Salinger. October 18, 1973, attributes it to Cornelis de Vos, comparing it to his portrait of Anna Friederike van der Boukhorst (Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels).
Walter A. Liedtke. Flemish Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1984, vol. 1, pp. 274–75; vol. 2, pl. 107, observes that cleaning reveals unmistakably the hand of Cornelis de Vos.
John Pope-Hennessy. "Roger Fry and The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Oxford, China, and Italy: Writings in Honour of Sir Harold Acton on his Eightieth Birthday. Ed. Edward Chaney and Neil Ritchie. London, 1984, p. 231, refers to it as a Van Dyck.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 283, ill., as "Portrait of a Woman".
Harold Koda. Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2001, p. 20, ill. (color, cropped).
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
ca. 1635
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