Katherine Stanhope (née Wotton), later Countess of Chesterfield, and Lucy Hastings (née Davies), Countess of Huntingdon Read more Read less

Sir Anthony Van Dyck, 1599–1641

1636 to 1640

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

Two women are depicted in a garden setting. The woman on the left wears a silver dress and stands with her hand resting on foliage. The woman on the right wears a red dress and plays a stringed instrument. The Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyck settled in England in 1633 as Principal Painter in Ordinary to Charles I and was honored quickly with a knighthood. He ran a busy studio in order to produce the vast quantity of portraits demanded by English patrons, who were eager to see themselves represented with a new elegance and refinement. In this double portrait of Lady Chesterfield (standing) and Lady Huntington (seated), the handling of the paint and the sumptuous coloring evoke the manner of Titian (ca. 1488–1576), the great Venetian painter whose work was highly prized by English connoisseurs. Although the lute symbolizes harmony betw