Gonzales Coques, 'Portrait of a Woman as Saint Agnes', about 1680

Portrait of a Woman as Saint Agnes

Gonzales Coques

Not on display

About the work

Overview

A finely dressed young woman gazes assuredly out at the viewer. The distinct shape of her nose, the turn of her mouth and her faintly dimpled chin reveal that this is a portrait, though the sitter’s identity is unknown. She is shown in the guise of Saint Agnes, with the saint’s attributes of a lamb (a symbol of her chaste innocence and her Christian devotion) and a sword (the instrument of her martyrdom).

Agnes was a beautiful young girl from a wealthy Roman family, sentenced to death after spurning her suitors and pledging devotion to her Christian faith. Her condemners tried to burn her at the stake; when this failed to kill her, she was stabbed or beheaded. Agnes was patron saint of young girls and virgins, and the sitter may have shared her name.

The picture’s delicate finish and the fact it is painted on silver suggest that it was a precious object, perhaps painted for a loved one to carry with them.

In-depth

A finely dressed young woman gazes assuredly out at the viewer. The distinct shape of her nose, the turn of her mouth and her faintly dimpled chin reveal that this is a portrait, though the sitter’s identity is unknown. She is shown in the guise of Saint Agnes, patron saint of young girls and virgins, with her attributes of a lamb (a symbol of her chaste innocence and her Christian devotion) and a sword (the instrument of her martyrdom).

Agnes was a beautiful young girl from a wealthy Roman family. They were early Christians, and Agnes was sentenced to death after spurning her suitors and pledging devotion to her faith. Her condemners tried to burn her at the stake; when this failed to kill her, she was stabbed or beheaded.

The saintly guise may have been chosen because the sitter and saint shared a name, or it may simply be that the artist, sitter or patron wished the sitter to be associated with Saint Agnes’s qualities of youth, beauty, piety, steadfastness and chastity. This didn't necessarily mean the subject of the portrait was unmarried; in fact, such characteristics might allude to the fact that she was about to be married, or that it was a commission by a proud husband of a virtuous wife. The silver support and the delicate finish certainly suggest that this was a precious object, perhaps painted for a loved one or spouse to carry with them.

The picture holds another clue to the woman’s identity. The ornately decorated stone portico in the background resembles the one designed by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens to connect the two wings of his house, the Rubenshuis, in Antwerp. If the building is the Rubenshuis, the picture must predate a 1684 print of the property that includes additions not featured here. The dating of the architecture and the sitter’s fashionable contemporary dress of about 1680 suggest that she may be a member of the Hillewerve family, who lived in the property at this time. No record of an ‘Agnes’ has yet been found, however.

Gonzales Coques was born and worked in Antwerp. He trained with Pieter Bruegel the Younger and David Rijckaert, and became a portrait and figure painter, patronised by both the Spanish Regents of the Southern Netherlands and the House of Orange, the rulers of the Northern Netherlands.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Portrait of a Woman as Saint Agnes
Artist: Gonzales Coques
Artist dates: 1614/18 - 1684
Date made: about 1680
Medium and support: oil on silver
Dimensions: 18.3 × 14.4 cm
Acquisition credit: Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876
Inventory number: NG1011
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: Wynn Ellis

John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick
Frame: 19th-century English Frame

Provenance

Dr. Thomas Newton (1704–1782), Lord Bishop of Bristol, and others’ sale, by private contract, 125, Pall Mall, 8 ff. April, 1788 (446); perhaps in the Dr. Newton, Lord Bishop of Bristol (†) sale, 22 March, 1794 (19), apparently not sold. Coll. Lord Northwick (1770–1859) by 1858; Lord Northwick sale, Phillips (at Thirlestane House, Cheltenham), 23 August (= 17th day) 1859 (1676) bt. Agnew for James Fallows for 84 gns. James Fallows (†) sale, Christie’s, 23 May, 1868 (162) bt. Pearce for 51 gns. Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2011

Palazzo Rubens: The Master as Architect

Rubenshuis

10 September 2011 - 11 December 2011
2013

Long Loan to the Rubenshuis (2013 - 2016)

Rubenshuis

16 November 2013 - 15 November 2016

Bibliography

1858

Hours in Lord Northwick's Picture Galleries: Being a Catalogue with Critical and Descriptive Notices of Some of the Principal Paintings in the Thirlestaine House Collection, Cheltenham 1858
1960

E. Plietzsch, Holländische und flämische Maler des XVII. Jahrh, Leipzig 1960
1967

R. Wishnevsky, Studien zum 'Portrait Historie' in den Niederlanden, Phd Thesis, Munich 1967
1970

G. Martin, The Flemish School, circa 1600-circa 1900, London 1970
1981

G. de Vuyst, Gonzales Coques, MA Thesis, Rijksuniversiteit 1981
1986

Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
1987

C. Brown, The National Gallery Schools of Painting: Flemish Paintings, London 1987
1990

I. Gaskell, National Gallery Master Paintings from the Collection of Wynn Ellis of Whitstable, London 1990
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

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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(Showing 6 of 8 works)

A Family Group

Gonzales Coques

We don’t know their names, but this was undoubtedly a wealthy, fashion-conscious family, almost certainly from Antwerp where the artist, Gonzales Coques, was based. Group portraits such as this were popular among the city elite and artists incorporated gestures, looks and activities to bring the...

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Hearing

Gonzales Coques

This is one of five paintings intended to hang together, each of which denotes one of the five senses – a common theme for painting in the Low Countries in the seventeenth century. Gonzales Coques used a traditional activity to represent the relevant sense; here, we see a lutanist with a musical...

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Portrait of a Man

Gonzales Coques

The languid brown eyes of a young man gaze out at us, his look faintly quizzical. But who is he? His long hair waves softly about his neck, the shadow of a moustache dusts his upper lip, a wisp of a curl brushes a wide brow, and his full mouth pouts a little, adding to the uncertainty of his exp...

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Sight (Portrait of Robert van den Hoecke)

Gonzales Coques

This is one of five paintings intended to hang together, each of which denotes one of the five senses – a common theme for painting in the Low Countries in the seventeenth century. In each painting Gonzales Coques has used a traditional activity to represent the relevant sense. This is Sight, dep...

Not on display

Smell (Portrait of Lucas Fayd'herbe)

Gonzales Coques

This is one of five paintings intended to hang together, each of which denotes one of the five senses – a common theme for painting in the Low Countries in the seventeenth century. In each of these paintings Gonzales Coques has used a traditional activity to represent the relevant sense.Here, pip...

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Touch

Gonzales Coques

This is one of five paintings intended to hang together, each of which denotes one of the five senses – a common theme for painting in the Low Countries in the seventeenth century. In each of these paintings Gonzales Coques has used a traditional activity to represent the relevant sense.Here, Tou...

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Portrait of a Woman

Imitator of Gonzales Coques

This painting was once thought to be by Gonzales Coques, one of the most successful portrait artists in Antwerp between the 1650s and 1680s. It is unsigned and undated, but the costume and hairstyle suggest that it was painted in about 1650, and the pose and spirited look in the sitter’s eyes are...

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Taste

After Gonzales Coques

This is one of five paintings intended to hang together, each of which denotes one of the five senses – a common theme for painting in the Low Countries in the seventeenth century. In each of these paintings Gonzales Coques used a traditional activity to represent the relevant sense.Here Taste is...

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You've viewed 6 of 8 works

Gonzales Coques, 'Portrait of a Woman as Saint Agnes', about 1680

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Exhibition history

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Gonzales Coques