Portrait of Anna-Maria de Camudio

Portrait of Anna-Maria de Camudio
 
Oil on canvas on panel, 77 x 64 cm.
 
This portrait represents Anna-Maria de Camudio, later Baroness of Zaventem and Countess of Erps, a Spanish noblewoman of Basque origin whose biography has been reconstructed through extensive archival research by the gallery. Serving at the Brussels court of Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia as a trusted lady-in-waiting, she occupied a role that combined discretion, political awareness, and sustained proximity to power. Her enduring presence at court paralleled the rise of her husband, the diplomat and nobleman Ferdinand de Boisschot. The couple were also patrons of the artist Anthony Van Dyck, commissioning several works from him, including  “The Holy Martin and Love “, which is still visible in-situ in the church of Zaventem.
 
Van Dyck painted a now-lost knee-length version of this composition, dated 1630, which was previously in the Arenberg Collection. Infrared reflectography of the present version has revealed significant revisions to the sitter’s costume, most notably showing a different, earlier type of collar. In the finished state, further subtle differences, particularly in the jewellery, can be observed.