The Lady with a Fan (Velázquez) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Lady with a Fan |
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| Artist | Diego Velázquez |
| Year | ca. 1638—1639 |
| Type | Oil on wood |
| Dimensions | 92.8 cm × 68.5 cm (36.5 in × 27.0 in) |
| Location | Wallace Collection, London |
The painting The Lady with a Fan is a famous artwork by Diego Velázquez. He was a Spanish painter who worked for the royal family. This painting shows a woman wearing a black lace veil and a dark dress. Experts believe Velázquez painted it around 1638 or 1639. Today, you can see this beautiful painting at the Wallace Collection in London.
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Who is the Lady in the Painting?
The Lady with a Fan is a mysterious portrait. Most of Velázquez's other paintings show people we know, like the Spanish royal family or their helpers. But no one is completely sure who the woman in The Lady with a Fan is. There isn't much old information about this painting.
Some people think the woman might be Marie de Rohan. She was a duchess from France. Her clothes in the painting look like French fashion from the late 1630s. There is a letter from 1638 that says Velázquez once painted a French duchess. This duchess was living in Madrid after escaping from France.
However, other experts disagree. They say the woman in the painting does not look like other pictures of the duchess. They also think her clothes look more like a Spanish tapada. A tapada was a woman who covered her face with a veil, a style popular in Spain. This style was similar to the later majas of the 1700s.
How the Painting Changed Hands
The Lady with a Fan was first written about in the early 1800s. It was part of the collection of Lucien Bonaparte. He was the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. People think he bought it in Spain around 1801.
But there are no old records of the painting being in Spain before that. So, it's also possible he bought it in England or Italy. He spent a lot of time there during the wars of that time. He might have even bought it in France. There, he met a man who was a direct descendant of the duchess of Chevreuse.
Lucien Bonaparte sold his art collection in 1816. After being sold a few more times, the painting was bought in 1847. It was bought by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford. When he passed away, the painting went to his son, Sir Richard Wallace. That is how it became part of the Wallace Collection, where it is today.
Another Version: Lady in a Mantilla
There is another version of this portrait called Lady in a Mantilla. This painting has been in England since the 1700s. Records show it was owned by a Spanish aristocrat in the 1600s. Later, it was owned by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington.
This version is usually on display at Chatsworth House in England. Both paintings were shown together at the Wallace Collection in 2006.
See also
- List of works by Diego Velázquez
