Paintings in the Collection of Henry Clay Frick, 1915 [page 17]

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SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (1599-1641) PAOLO ADORNO, MARCHESA DI BRIGNOLA-SALA Canvas, 60 inches by 92 inches

In the midst of a richly furnished room, in soft, warm tones of grey, stands the Marquise Pauline, a small slender woman with and exceptionally small head and short arms; her reddish hair is dressed in the then prevailing style, and she wears a network of pearls at the back of her head. The stiff white satin bodice adds somewhat to the length of her body, the skirt hanging down at the back in long, graceful folds. She looks sideways with widely opened eyes, somewhat severe, perhaps, but captivating. Her small, but imperious, mouth is closed, giving her a rather commanding air. One hand rests against her stomacher, while with the other she lightly grasps the folds of her robe. She rules in her house, she is a queen of beauty, and shows plainly that she is aware of it.... It is the apotheosis of a pretty woman, the red draperies, all blend together, making a symphonious whole. It is just possible that the varnish has added to the amber tint which predominates over the whole; but under whatever conditions of tint or color, the little Marquise is a vision of beauty and elegance.

By birth the Marquise was an Adorno, daughter of Giambattista Adorno and of his first wife, Paolo di Giacomo Spinola. Her father was Governor of Genoa from 1621 till 1632. she married Anton Guilio di Gianfrancesco Brignole, son of a Doge of Genoa and Ambassador to Philip IV. of Spain.

"Contemporary gossip, crystallized into tradition, suggests an undue influence exercised by the chivalrous young painter on the heart of the fair Marchesa. Happy lady, happy painter, even if the link between them were not one of love, that they should both be rendered immortal by the same magic touch of art!" —Lionel Cust, "Anthony Van Dyck," p.40.

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