Princess Henrietta of Lorraine, Attended by a Page
by DYCK, Sir Anthony van, Oil on canvas, 213 x 127 cm
This portrait was painted in Brussels just a few months after Henrietta of Lorraine (1611–1660) was banished from France. She was forced to flee Nancy, dressed as a man, after being accused of being a collaborator to treason. Henrietta of Lorraine was daughter of Count Fran�ois de Vaud�mont, nephew of duc Henri of Lorraine. In 1632 her younger sister, Margaret, secretly married Gaston, duc d’Orl�ans, the younger brother of King Louis XIII of France.
Van Dyck produced several portraits during his brief stay in the Southern Netherlands in 1634-35. In these he showed as much virtuosity and the same idiom as in the best of his English compositions.