STUDIO OF SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)

Henrietta was the third child of Francois II, Duke of Lorraine, and wife of Louis de Lorraine, Prince of Lexin. In 1632 her sister Marguerite secretly married Gaston, duc d’Orleans, brother of Louis XIII, against the King’s wishes. Because the childless Louis saw the marriage between his brother and a member of the powerful Lorraine family a threat, he banished the sisters and the duc d’Orleans, forcing them to flee France, with Henrietta and Marguerite disguised as men. They took refuge at the court of Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia in Brussels, where van Dyck painted the full length portrait, of which the present lot is a smaller studio replica. The full length is now part of the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House, London (inv. no. 88028826).

The Princess is accompanied by a young male attendant of African heritage dressed in an expensive and fashionable red velvet suit. His presence in the portrait remains unexplained but can be compared with a number of contemporary portraits of European royals and aristocrats attended by children of African heritage. In these compositions, the child is typically placed to the side or slightly behind the central figure, with an upward gaze and an offering of treasures, in this case, a gold plate of pink roses. The attendant in the present portrait bears a remarkable similarity to the unidentified male attendant of African heritage in another portrait by van Dyck, who accompanies an unknown lady in a white silk dress, a studio version of which was sold Christie's, London, 12 December 2001, lot 17. The composition is almost identical: the position of the sitters, the red velvet suit worn by the boy and his offering of pink roses on a gold plate. Comparisons such as this have led to the conjecture that the children in such portraits may have been members of the artist's studio, challenging the common perception that they were members of the central figure's household.

If the boy was part of Henrietta's entourage, or a member of the court of Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia in Brussels, how he came to be there is not known. Born at the time of the burgeoning transatlantic slave trade, he was most likely brought to Europe by a merchant. The composition suggests that his role at court was most likely that of a servant, however he may have received tuition in music and dance, as well as other fashionable pursuits such as horse riding. For more information about the African presence in the Netherlands in the 17th Century, see E. Kolfin & E. Runia, Black in Rembrandt's Time, Amsterdam, 2020.

We are grateful to Jo Langston for her help in preparing this catalogue note.