Art historian Karen Hearn has recently identified this work from The Portland Collection as a rare surviving early painting by George Geldorp (1590-1665).
She did this by comparing elements of its handling with those in two full-length portraits at Hatfield House that are documented as being by Geldorp. Dating from 1626, these depict William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury and his wife, Catherine Cecil (née Howard).[1]
Unknown woman, previously said to be Frances Howard, Countess of Essex and of Somerset, Early 1620s, George Geldorp. © Harley Foundation, The Portland Collection
The Flemish portrait-painter Geldorp had trained and worked as a painter in Cologne before moving to Antwerp, where he was admitted to the painters’ guild in 1610. He came to London early in the 1620s, and was also active as an art agent and dealer. After 1632, he would be involved in the London studio of the famous Flemish incomer painter, Anthony van Dyck.[2]
When this painting was first documented – in the early 18th century – it was in a list of pictures that had entered the Portland Collection from the Wriothesley family. The sitter’s identity had already been lost, and it was described as ‘A young lady in a Night rail with a looking glass, from Titchfield’ [‘rail’ was a contemporary word for a jacket].[3] It was not until the end of the 19th century that it first became (fancifully) identified with Frances Howard, Countess of Essex and of Somerset (1590-1632). This was presumably because it was felt that such an erotic painting could only be linked to someone of Frances’s notoriously sexualized reputation.
[1] E. Auerbach & C. Kingsley Adams, Paintings & Sculpture at Hatfield House, London, 1971, cat. nos. 82 & 84, pp.84-6, 86-87; repr. as colour plates X & VI.
[2] J. Davies & J. Innes-Mulraine, “Anthony van Dyck in London: newly discovered documents” in Burlington Magazine, vol. 164, March 2022, pp.254-259.
[3] R.W. Goulding, Catalogue of the Pictures belonging to His Grace The Duke of Portland K G, Cambridge, 1936, no.187, pp.73-4.
Karen Hearn
Karen was previously a Curator at Tate, is author of the book Nicholas Hilliard, and chairs The Harley Foundation Curatorial Advisory Group. She is a specialist in 16th- and 17th-century British and Netherlandish art, has curated many exhibitions, and writes and lectures extensively.
Karen devised and curated the groundbreaking exhibition “Portraying Pregnancy: from Holbein to Social Media”, shown at The Foundling Museum in London in 2020. She has spent many years researching that little-explored subject and wrote the accompanying book.
