Portrait of a Noblewoman
2nd half of 17th Century, oil, canvas, 88,8 x 68,5 cm
NG S 646, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana
This portrait shows an unknown noble lady (perhaps a member of the Auersperg family?), a woman of rank, as we see from her jewels and lace. Typologically it is in the category of the international portrait art of the second half of the 17th century, as represented by the works of the Flemish painter Jacob Ferdinand Voet, who was active in Paris, Rome and elsewhere. The costume would date the painting to the time between 1670 and 1680. What makes it different from other similar examples is the extraordinary interpretation of the sitter, who is portrayed as nervous, frail and probably ailing. The emotional power of the portrait is concentrated in the eyes with an effectiveness which is quite rare in court portraits of this kind. Both the interpretation and the treatment are strongly reminiscent of the face of Saint Colomanus in the painting in the parish church in Mekinje near Kamnik, which is attributed to Almanach. In his portraits and religious paintings the artist probably departed from the decisive, brutal realism which is characteristic of his genre work. This painting is conditionally attributed to Almanach.
Restored: 1965, ZSV, Ljubljana.
Provenance: Narodni muzej, Ljubljana (NM - NG 67), 1934 (?).
Exhibitions: 1965, Maribor, and 1966, Ljubljana, No. 32; 1983, Ljubljana, No. 93.
Lit.: Vrišer 1965, p. 29, Cat. No. 32 (Portrait of an Auersperg Lady, third quarter 17C); Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, pp. 163, Cat. No. 93, Fig. 92.