ATTRIBUTED TO MARCUS GHEERAERTS THE YOUNGER (BRUGES 1520-1590 LONDON)
Portrait of a Lady, said to be Arabella Stuart, c. 1605
oil on panel, mounted on canvas
93 x 75 cm ( 36 5/8 x 29 1/2 in)

The present lot can be attributed on stylistic and material grounds to the circle of the Antwerp-born painter Marcus Gheerhaerts, active as a portraitist at the Elizabethan court. Gheerhaerts very rarely signed any of his works and employed a large workshop. His style resembles that of contemporaries such as John de Critz (1551-1642), Robert Peake the Elder (c. 1551-1619), and Paul van Somer (c. 1577-1621).

The present portrait may represent Lady Arabella Stuart (for comparable examples, see portraits in the National Trust and Royal Collection). The sitter is depicted wearing a woman’s jacket typical for the period 1600-1610 richly embroidered with floriated motifs of pomegranate and peas and sweat-pea flowers, traditional symbols of fecundity. The ‘bee-hive’ hair and elegant lace corroborate a dating of around 1605.