Sir Anthony Van Dyck

1599-1641
Portrait of Mary Hill, Lady Killigrew
1638

Oil on canvas
1065 x 833 mm
Purchased from Christie's New York through Robert Holden (General Funds) with assistance from the National Art Collections Fund and Tate Members 2003 T07956

In 2002, Tate acquired Sir Anthony Van Dyck's Sir William Killigrew, the outstanding portrait of the Caroline courtier and playwright. At that time the whereabouts of the companion image of the sitter's wife were unknown, but when Mary Hill, Lady Killigrew, appeared unexpectedly at auction in New York in January 2003, Tate was fortunate to be able to acquire it too. Reunited at Tate after at least 150 years apart, they are the only pendant pair of Van Dyck husband-and-wife portraits from his British period owned by a British public gallery.

In both works, the elegant compositions and finely painted landscapes echo the work of the sixteenth-century Venetian artist Titian, whose paintings influenced Van Dyck and were greatly admired by Charles I and his court. Van Dyck's own portraits were to have a profound influence on numerous later British artists, well into the twentieth century.