Attributed to Justus Sustermans

Portrait of a lady, probably Maria Maddalena of Austria (1589–1631), full-length, wearing a black dress with an ornate lace collar and holding a drawing of Mary Magdalene

UK: Greenford Park Warehouse

Lot Closed

July 7, 02:09 PM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

The Property of a Gentleman

Attributed toJustus Sustermans

Antwerp 1597 - 1681 Florence

Portrait of a lady, probably Maria Maddalena of Austria (1589–1631), full-length, wearing a black dress with an ornate lace collar and holding a drawing of Mary Magdalene

oil on canvas

unframed: 218.7 x 128.8 cm.; 86⅛ x 50⅞ in.

framed: 249.5 x 149.7 cm.; 98¼ x 59 in.

Sir George Lindsay Holford (1860–1926), of Dorchester House, Park Lane and Westonbirt, Gloucestershire;
His posthumous sale, London, Christie's, 17 May 1928, lot 44, where bought by Leggatt Brothers for 105 guineas;
With Leggatt Brothers, London (when advertised in Country Life, 9 June 1928, vol. LXIII);
From whom acquired by a private collector;
By whose son sold (‘The Property of a Family Trust’), London, Sotheby's, 8 July 2010, lot 144, where acquired.

Maria Maddalena of Austria was the youngest daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, and the wife of Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The present sitter and Maria Maddalena have similar physiognomical features as seen in the portrait by Sustermans in the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam.¹ Here, the sitter holds a drawing of the Magdalene and it is interesting to note that Maria Maddalena of Austria celebrated her name-saint in another allegorical portrait by Sustermans that depicts her as the Penitent Magdalene (Palazzo Pitti, Florence).²

The notable Holford collection was divided between Sir George's house in Gloucestershire, Westonbirt, and his London home, Dorchester House. Sir George compiled one of the most important Old Master collections of the century and it included many famous works now in public collections across the globe, such as Lorenzo Lotto's Portrait of a Lady (National Gallery, London); Velázquez's Portrait of Philip IV (Ringling Museum, Sarasota); Bellini's Portrait of a Boy (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery); and Rembrandt's Portrait of Marten Looten (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).

¹ Inv. no. 1841 (OK): https://www.boijmans.nl/en/collection/artworks/2968/portrait-of-archduchess-maria-magdalena-of-austria

² Inv. no. 563: https://gallerix.org/storeroom/79996/N/666/