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Rachel de Ruvigny, Countess of Southampton
(c. 1640)
Medium
oil on canvas, wood
Measurements
222.4 × 131.6 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1922
Gallery location
17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The French-born Rachel de Ruvigny had been a widow for many years when she married Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, in 1634. She was at that time described as beautiful, virtuous and religious. She bore five children and died in childbirth in 1640. Van Dyck’s portrait shows the Countess seated above swirling clouds, her arm resting on a sphere of dark, reflective crystal, a skull at the hem of her dress. Since the skull, which recalls the vanity of earthly things, can signify that the sitter is deceased, the painting may have been completed after her death.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint (in a later hand) l.r.: Rachel. 1st Countess of / Southampton.
Accession Number
1246-3
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)
Biographical Portraits
Subjects (specific)
aristocracy (social class) clouds clouds countesses dresses (garments) skulls (skeleton components) spheres (geometric figures) women (female humans)