Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641)
Marie-Claire de Croÿ with Her Son Philippe-Eugène, 1634
Oil on canvas
82 1/2 × 48 1/2 in. (208.7 × 123.2 cm)
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Collection
Descended from one of the most ancient noble families in the Southern Netherlands, Marie-Claire de Croÿ was created Duchess of Havré in her own right by the king of Spain upon her marriage to a cousin in 1627. The child who appears alongside her is likely Philippe-Eugène, the future bishop of Valencia. The painting provides a sterling example of the grandiose and richly colored court portraits of Van Dyck’s second Antwerp period and makes use of a recurrent formula of juxtaposing an elegant female sitter with a diminutive male companion.