Featured Old Portrait...16th or 17th century?

Hi everyone,
Here is an old portrait. It measures 24" x 17 1/2". It's obviously been relined. I'm wondering if this piece is 17th or 18th century, based on the costume? I can't decide! Also, if anyone is familiar with history, this might be a queen or other royal figure. The only markings on it are penciled in on the stretcher bar....looks like "Dog....." something, but I'm not exactly sure about that either. At any rate, I would appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks!

 

Immediate first impression is 19th C by an naive artist. There were itinerant artists who hit the road to paint portraits.

Not a portrait of Royalty, just some local worthy.

 

Thanks. It would have to be very, very early 19th century if that's the dating, I would think. Does the dress look American or European to you?

 

Wait for other people to come by and comment. Others will have opinions on the dating of the fashions.

It appears rather dull, and may need some conservation to really pop.

 

1500s? 1600s? More like 1830s. High waist, low full sleeves, bell-shaped skirt. Coming out of the Regency period and going into Victorian.

Debora

 

I completely agree with Debora.

 

Ditto.
If she is associated with anything, it would be writing, given the papers and ink set on the table. But that could be just writing letters to friends and family.

 

One could read a fair amount of symbolism into it. Correspondence = writing materials, distance = open window, sea = death, loyalty = dog. The on/off gloves typically = faithfulness or a journey. Not the work of a fully trained artist; you can see how the artist struggled with scale. But the face is quite nicely realized despite that. Can see how you'd be attracted. The painting has a naive charm, given the sitter stands so confidently in a landscape that dwarfs her.

Debora

 

Thanks for the input.... I think the sitter could be a sea captain's wife.

 

My thought was the artist cribbed the background from a Classical work or invented it. The scale is too large to be domestic. But you can do a bit of internet research to see how sea captains' wives were typically portrayed in portraits.

Debora

 

Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Amalia_of_Naples_and_Sicily



Do you think they look enough alike to be the same woman?

 

I don’t know if they are the same woman but they certainly look quite a bit alike! Good match!

 

That certainly is a good match, LauraGarnet. Thank you!

 

It's not inconceivable and could account for the grandiose setting. Yours might be copied from an engraving as it is facing the opposite way, but yours is still a naive painting - not by a classically trained artist. A person of such stature would never sit for a portrait by any but the most fashionable artist.

 

Perhaps she would have for a family member like one of her children?

 

Probably the work of an itinerant artist.

 

I agree it looks like an itinerant artist, which means either a copy of some other work or the similarity to Maria Amalia is coincidental.

Maria Amalia would not have posed for an itinerant artist, nor do I believe she would have sat for children or anyone else in her household.