Anthony van Dyck, 'Lady Elizabeth Thimbelby and her Sister', about 1635
About the work
Overview
Anthony van Dyck was largely responsible for introducing the double or ‘friendship’ portrait to Britain. The informal composition of this painting as well as the quantities of shimmering silk on display perfectly illustrate the appeal of Van Dyck’s new style to aristocratic British patrons eager for innovation.
The two women in the portrait, Dorothy and Elizabeth, were the eldest surviving daughters of Thomas, 1st Viscount Savage. It was once thought that the picture was painted around the time of Dorothy’s scandalous elopement in 1637, and that she was the sister seated on the right. But this theory has been disproved, and a contemporary copy of the painting identifies Dorothy as standing on the left. Elizabeth wears a saffron-coloured gown – a colour said to have been worn by brides in ancient Greece. She is the newly-wed receiving roses from Cupid, the god of erotic love.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Lady Elizabeth Thimbelby and Dorothy, Viscountess Andover
- Artist
- Anthony van Dyck
- Artist dates
- 1599 - 1641
- Date made
- about 1635
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 132.1 × 149 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1977
- Inventory number
- NG6437
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 17th-century Flemish Frame (original frame)
Provenance
No. 6437 was owned by Sir Peter Lely, an avid collector of paintings by van Dyck, and it is first recorded when purchased by the and Earl of Sunderland at the sale of Sir Peter Lely’s collection in 1682, lot 115, ‘Lady Thimbelby and her sister with a Cupid’. It remained in the family, the Spencers of Althorp, until its purchase by the National Gallery from the Earl Spencer by private treaty in 1977.
Additional information
Text extracted from the National Gallery’s Annual Report, ‘The National Gallery: July 1975 – December 1977’.
Exhibition history
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2009Van Dyck & BritainTate Britain18 February 2009 - 17 May 2009
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2014Making ColourThe National Gallery (London)18 June 2014 - 7 September 2014
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2018Van Dyck, Court PainterMusei Reali di Torino - Galleria Sabauda16 November 2018 - 17 March 2019
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2020Masterpieces from the National Gallery, LondonThe National Museum of Western Art18 June 2020 - 18 October 2020The National Museum of Art3 November 2020 - 31 January 2021
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2021Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery of Australia5 March 2021 - 14 June 2021
Bibliography
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1682Sir Peter Lely's Great Collection of Pictures, and Other Rarities, as Statues, Bronzes, etc., London, 18 April 1682
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1822T.F. Dibdin, Aedes Althorpianae, London 1822
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1828H. Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England, with Some Account of the Principal Artists, and Incidental Notes on Other Arts, ed. J. Dallaway, 5 vols, London 1828
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1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1854G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
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1882J. Guiffrey, Antoine van Dyck: Sa vie et son oeuvre, Paris 1882
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1900L.H. Cust, Anthony van Dyck: An Historical Study of his Life and Works, London 1900
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1931G. Glück, Van Dyck, des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart 1931
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1935G. Vertue, 'Vertue Note Books, IV', The Walpole Society, XXIV, 1936
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1943T. Borenius, 'Editorial: Sir Peter Lely's Great Collection of Pictures, 1682', The Burlington Magazine, LXXXIII, 1943, pp. 185-8
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1953G. Kelly, Flemish Art, 1300-1700 (exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, 5 December 1953 - 6 March 1954), London 1953
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1955The Diary of John Evelyn, ed. E.S. de Beer, 6 vols, Oxford 1955, vol. 5
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1974K. Garlick, 'A Catalogue of Pictures at Althorp', The Walpole Society, XLV, 1976, pp. 1-128
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1977K. Roberts, 'Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions: London', The Burlington Magazine, CXIX/889, 1977
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1977A. Smith, 'A van Dyck Double Portrait in the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, CXIX/897, 1977, p. 859
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1978The National Gallery, The National Gallery: July 1975 - December 1977, London 1978
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1978J. Mills and R. White, 'Organic Analysis in the Arts: Some Further Paint Medium Analyses', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, II, 1978, pp. 71-6
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1978A. Ribeiro, 'Letter: Van Dyck's Double Portrait', The Burlington Magazine, 1978
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1982O. Millar, Van Dyck in England, London 1982-1983
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1982C. Brown, Van Dyck, Oxford 1982
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1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
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1987C. Brown, The National Gallery Schools of Painting: Flemish Paintings, London 1987
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1987J. Müller Hofstede, 'Neue Beiträge zum Oeuvre Anton van Dycks', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, XLVIII-XLIX, 1987, pp. 123‑86
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1988E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck, Freren 1988
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1990C. Brown, Van Dyck (exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 11 November 1990 - 24 February 1991), Washington 1990
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1990Z.Z. Filipczak, 'Reflections on Motifs in Van Dyck's Portraits', in A.K. Wheelock et al., Anthony Van Dyck, Washington 1990, pp. 59-68
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1994W. Savelsberg, 'Eine "Beauty‑Gallery" im Schloss Mosigkau: 12 englische Hofdamenporträts nach Anton van Dyck in der Sammlung einer anhalt‑dessauischen Fürstentochter', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, LV, 1994, pp. 185‑204
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1996P. Mitchell and L. Roberts, A History of European Picture Frames, London 1996
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1996D. Dethloff, 'The Executors' Account Book and the Dispersal of Sir Peter Lely's Collection', Journal of the History of Collections, VIII/1, 1996, pp. 15-51
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1997C. Vermeeren and P. Van der Ploeg, Princely Patrons: The Collection of Frederick Henry of Orange and Amalia of Solms in The Hague, Zwolle 1997
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1999H. Vlieghe and C. Brown, Van Dyck 1599-1641, Antwerp and London 1999
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1999S.G. Tasch, Studien zum weiblichen Rollenporträt in England von Anthonis van Dyck bis Joshua Reynolds, Weimar 1999
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1999J. Brown (ed.), Velázquez, Rubens y Van Dyck: Pintores cortesanos del siglo XVII, Madrid 1999-2000
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1999Z.Z. Filipczak, 'Van Dyck's Men and Women in Humoral Perspective', Jaarboek Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1999, pp. 50-69
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1999A. Roy, 'The National Gallery van Dycks: Technique and Development', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XX, 1999, pp. 50‑83
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1999R. White, 'Van Dyck's Paint Medium', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XX, 1999, pp. 84-8
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1999J. Brown (ed.), Velázquez, Rubens y Van Dyck: Pintores cortesanos del siglo XVII (exh. cat. Museo Nacional del Prado, 17 December 1999 - 5 March 2000), Madrid 1999
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001E.E. Gordenker, Van Dyck (1599-1641) and the Representation of Dress in the Seventeenth-Century Portraiture, Turnhout 2001
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2001D. Jaffé, 'New thoughts on Van Dyck's Italian sketchbook', Burlington Magazine, CXLIII/1183, October 2001, pp. 614-24
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2004H. Vey et al., Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven 2004
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2005A. Ribeiro, Fashion and Fiction: Dress in Art and Literature in Stuart England, New Haven and London 2005
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2006S. Richardson, Passion for Paint, London 2006
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2008J.L. Hallam, 'All the Queen's Women: Female Double Portraits at the Caroline Court', in A. Pearson (ed.), Women and Portraits in Early Modern Europe, Franham 2008, pp. 137-60
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2009K. Hearn (ed.), Van Dyck & Britain (exh. cat., Tate Britain, London), London 2009
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2009A. Roy and D. Bomford, A Closer Look: Colour, London 2009
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2018M.G. Bernardini and A.M. Bava, Van Dyck: Pittore di Corte, Rome 2018-2019
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2021C. White, Anthony van Dyck & the Art of Portraiture, London 2021
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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