"Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria", 1606 - By Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

"Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria", 1606 - By Artist Peter Paul Rubens 

This is a wonderful portrait by Rubens of Brigida Spinola, a young (she was just 22 years old at the time of painting) Genoese from an aristocratic family. Her husband, Giacomo Massimiliano Doria, gave her this artwork as a wedding gift. It began as a full-length portrait with a view of the countryside. However, in the nineteenth century, the painting was severely cropped on the left, and the whole vista from the terrace vanished. Brigida is dressed in a silver satin and lace gown. Her look makes it clear that she is affluent and of position. The angle of her gaze and the perspective of the structures suggest that the picture was hung high—much higher than the spectator. This relatively huge (99 x 152.5 cm) artwork is now on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

"Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria", 1606 - By Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)