Terms and conditions of use
Mary, Lady Vere
(c. 1612-1615)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
183.0 × 102.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Leigh Clifford AO and Sue Clifford, Alan and Mavourneen Cowen, the Fox Family Foundation, donors to the Larkin Appeal and the proceeds of the National Gallery of Victoria Annual Dinner, 2014
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
William Larkin is among the most enigmatic and accomplished portrait painters of Jacobean England. Larkin’s portraits are about the status and wealth of his sitters and the outward image they wish to project. The sitter here is Mary, Lady Vere (1581–1671), a highly distinguished member of the aristocracy whose wealth is signified by the deep black fabric shewears; the rich dyes needed to create this dark hue were prohibitively expensive at the time. She stands on a Turkish carpet beside a richly draped table, qualities very typical of Larkin’s compositions. This rare and iconic portrait can be favourably compared with Larkin’s celebrated series of nine full-length portraits formerly in the collection of the Earls of Suffolk, and now at Kenwood House, London.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
2014.553
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Portraits Textile
Subjects (specific)
cuffs (costume components) drapery (representations) full-length figures lace (needlework) nobles (aristocrats) ruffs social status women (female humans)
Movements
Jacobean (culture or period)