Portrait of a lady, half length, in a red and white dress with blue bows c.1640

In this portrait, the sitter’s fashionable clothing and jewellery suggest she was from either the aristocracy or wealthier merchant class. Her dress is made of imported vermilion silk and trimmed with an English bobbin-lace collar. Her Jacobean jewellery carries a particular symbolism: the anchor pendant worn high at the neck expresses ‘hope’ and ‘stability’, while the lower of the two diamonds suspended on a black silk cord is heart-shaped, signifying ‘sentiment’ and ‘devotion’.

The son of Dutch parents, Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen was born in London, where he was better known as Cornelius Jonson. He is among the first British portraitists to depict nobility in the formal manner that was popularised during and after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. His work is characterised by meticulous detail and an elegant style that indicate some training in the tradition of miniature painting.