Maria di Antonia Serra Portrait Oil Painting After Peter Paul Rubens 40"

Description

Portrait of Marchesa Maria di Antonia Serra Pallavincino after Peter Paul Rubens. Baroque gold acanthus foliate frame.

Portrait of Maria di Antonio Serra is a 1606 oil painting by Peter Paul Rubens, painted on the occasion of the sitter's marriage to Duke Nicolò Pallavicino in 1606 and now (the original) is in the National Trust collection at Kingston Lacy.

History
This portrait of a noble woman was executed by Rubens during his stay in Genoa.

The fine full-length portrait of Maria di Antonio features a glimpse from the highest social circles in Genoa. This port and trading city was governed by a city oligarchy, consisting of members of aristocratic families such as the Pallavicinis, Durazzos, Grimaldis, Imperiales and Spinolas, who controlled the banking, economy and politics of the republic. These members of Genoese urban aristocracy were painted by Rubens around 1606-07. The portrait has none of the courtly formality that was so characteristic of the Low Countries tradition of portraiture in the manner of Mor and Frans Pourbus II.

In portraits such as that of Maria Serra Pallavicino, the observer is struck by the high degree of realism. Rubens achieved this by a variety of means. He used interrupted backgrounds, where strategically placed porticos and pillars carry the eye of the observer into the distance; the brilliant suggestion of tangibility in the depiction of the costly satins worn by the lady.

Condition

Good vintage condition, wear and distressing commensurate with age and use, crazing / craquelure.

Dimensions

34" x 40"h, sans 24" x 30"