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Lady Anne Wentworth (1623-97)

Drawing
1636-1637 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Van Dyck, Anthony (Sir) (artist)
Place of origin
England (drawn)

The leading painter of the Stuart court, Anthony Van Dyck, was also a brilliant draughtsman who developed a rapid method of sketching to capture a likeness. One witness described how, when a sitter arrived at his studio, the artist ‘would take a little piece of blue paper upon a board before him, & look upon the Life & draw his figures & postures all in Suden lines, as angles with black chalk & heighten with white chalke’.

Object details

Category
Drawings
Object type
Drawing
TitleLady Anne Wentworth (1623-97) (published title)
Materials and techniques
Black chalk, heightened with white, on light brown paper
Black Chalk
White Chalk
Paper
Drawn
Brief description
Drawing; Study for a portrait Lady Anne Wentworth (1623–97); by Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), Black chalk, heightened with white, on light brown paper, Flemish School, 1636-1637
Physical description
Drawing, three-quarter length, standing to the left, resting her right hand on the head of a dog, which jumps up at her. She is fully attired, wearing a stomacher, with a collar, decorative bows and cuffs; her short sleeves and absence of tabs at the bodice suggest an informal note.
Dimensions
  • Height: 348mm
  • Width: 230mm
Style
Flemish
Production typeUnique
Gallery label
This study of Lady Anne Wentworth is characteristic of the freely drawn figure studies that Anthony van Dyck made in black chalk. Typically, he would sketch a portrait of his sitter from life directly onto the canvas. Afterwards, he would make a figure study like this one, to focus on the details of costume. The rich clothes indicated the wealth and status of the sitter.
Object history
Provenance:
Bequeathed by Miss Emily Frances Dalton, 1900. Miss Emily Dalton (1816/17-1900), Leicester, by whom bequeathed to the museum (NAL dry stamp on recto; not in Lugt), 1900.

Historical significance:
This drawing is a study for the portrait of Anne, afterwards Baroness Lovelace and Wentworth (d.1638), in the painting of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Cleveland, and his family, which in 1928 was at Wrotham Park, Herts, the seat of Lord Strafford.
Summary
The leading painter of the Stuart court, Anthony Van Dyck, was also a brilliant draughtsman who developed a rapid method of sketching to capture a likeness. One witness described how, when a sitter arrived at his studio, the artist ‘would take a little piece of blue paper upon a board before him, & look upon the Life & draw his figures & postures all in Suden lines, as angles with black chalk & heighten with white chalke’.
Bibliographic references
  • Owens, Susan, The Art of Drawing British Masters and Methods since 1600, V&A Publishing, London, 2013, p. 39, fig. 21
  • Horst Vey, Die Zeichnungen Anton van Dycks (Brussels: Verlag Arcade, 1962), no. 237
  • Susan Barnes, Nora De Poorter, Oliver Millar and Horst Vey, Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004), no. IV.78, pp.491-2
  • Jane Shoaf Turner and Christopher White, Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, vol. II, Cat. 477, illus. p. 407
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
D.908-1900

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O892277/lady-anne-wentworth-1623-97-drawing-van-dyck-anthony/
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