Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 1561–1635, Flemish, active in Britain (from 1568)
Title:
Catherine Killigrew, Lady Jermyn
Date:
1614
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on panel
Dimensions:
30 3/4 x 23 inches (78.1 x 58.4 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.310
Gallery Label:
This is one of the finest examples of the work of the Flemish-born artist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, who was the preeminent artist at the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean court. Having trained under his father and namesake, Gheeraerts brought a sophisticated Flemish style to his wealthy patrons, offering an alternative to the stiff linear painting practiced by many native artists. It is one of the earliest examples of a portrait in a feigned oval, a trompe l’oeil stone or marble aperture through which the subject is seen. Catherine Killigrew (ca. 1579–1640) married Sir Thomas Jermyn of Rushbrooke in 1600. In 1614, Jermyn inherited Rushbrooke Hall in Suffolk, and this portrait may have been commissioned to celebrate the event. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
