Portrait of Olive Boteler Porter

Artist / Maker: Anthony van Dyck

School: Flemish
Place: Netherlands
Object Type: Oil on canvas
Actual Date: 1630 – 1640
Century: 17th century
Size: 72.4 x 61 cm
Materials: Canvas, Oil
Museum Accession Number: O.88

In 1866 John Bowes purchased this painting from Madame Lepautre, one of his regular dealers in Paris, as one of a pair of paintings attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck, the most important artist at work in England in the 17th century. The sitter was simply referred to as ‘a lady’.
Over the years, however, the painting’s attribution became uncertain, thanks to the picture’s condition. The picture was obscured by an old, discoloured varnish, as well as paint loss to the sitter’s left eye and hair. The sophisticated drapery, colouring and facial expression typical of Van Dyck’s female portraits of the 1630s were therefore overlooked, due to the painting’s poor overall appearance. But thanks to the Public Catalogue Foundation and the BBC Your Paintings comprehensive photographic record of oil paintings in public ownership in Britain, the painting came to the attention of art historian Dr Bendor Grosvenor, who was carrying out research into Van Dyck’s lost paintings.
A sympathetic programme of conservation has now removed the disfiguring varnish layers, revealing the tonal subtleties of the sitter’s skin and her white satin dress, together with the quality of the drawing. The painting has been examined by a number of Van Dyck scholars who agree that a previously unknown work by Anthony van Dyck has been hiding in The Bowes Museum’s picture store for many years.