Portrait of a Woman is a fine example of Van Dyck’s full-length portraiture. The sheen of the drapery, the intricacy of the lace and the care lavished on coiffure and jewellery, and the creamy flesh tones indicate the quality of Van Dyck’s painterly approach. The setting serves to remind the viewer that the artist was also a superb landscape artist. On the basis of the hairstyle, the portrait has been dated 1634/5 and may have been painted in Brussels. The identity of the woman appears to be a mystery. However in 1851 she was thought to be Lucy, Countess of Carlisle, daughter of the 9th Earl of Northumberland.

The iconography is of particular interest in the painting: the fountain refers to purity or chastity, and the vase is a metaphor for feminine beauty. The landscape setting suggests a garden that could be interpreted in the light of the mediaeval hortus conclusus (enclosed garden), a further reference to chastity. However, because Cupid in this instance forms part of the fountain’s design and a rosebush grows nearby, the scene implies that this is ‘a garden of love in which the sitter appears as a love-inspiring yet chaste presence’.

Inscribed later: LUCY. COUNTESS OF CARLISLE