Maddalena Cattaneo
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 122.5 x 84.1 cm (48 1/4 x 33 1/8 in.) framed: 163.2 x 125.1 cm (64 1/4 x 49 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CNE-B
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Widener Collection
Accession Number
1942.9.94
Art Historical Context
**Maddalena Cattaneo**, painted by Sir Anthony van Dyck in 1623, the poised elegance of a Genoese noblewoman during the artist's formative years in Italy. At just 24, van Dyck had already absorbed the grandeur of his mentor Peter Paul Rubens while immersing himself in Genoa'sulent aristocracy. This oil-on-canvas portrait, measuring 122.5 x 84.1 cm, exemplifies his early mastery, showcasing the city's wealthy elite who commissioned such works to affirm their status amid the Baroque era's dramatic flair. Van Dyck's technique shines through loose, fluid brushstrokes that lend a lifelike vitality...
About the Artist
Sir Anthony van Dyck · 1599–present
Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) was a Flemish painter who became one of the most important portraitists in the history of European art. Born in Antwerp, he showed extraordinary precocious talent and entered the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens as a teenager, quickly becoming Rubens's most gifted assistant and an independent master in his own right by the age of eighteen. Van Dyck spent formative ye...