Dorothy, Lady Dacre
Anthony van Dyck, Dorothy, Lady Dacre, about 1633. Oil paint on canvas; 50 × 40 in. (127 × 101.6 cm). Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Berger Collection Educational Trust, 2020.15
Sir Anthony van Dyck is considered the most influential portrait painter ever to work in England. Named Principal Painter to Charles I, van Dyck revolutionized the art form, bringing to it a Venetian-inspired blend of grandeur and relaxation. Here he portrayed Lady Dacre, already a widow in her late twenties. Wearing a black dress and black cap in the shape of a “widow’s peak,” she holds a double-headed rose possibly signifying both her widowhood (the fading blossom) and the promise of a future love (the flower about to bloom).
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