She was the daughter of William Cecil, Earl of Salisbury and Lady Catherine Howard. Anne married Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland before 1630 (date not known exactly) and bore him five daughters.
The portrait is unusual in that the sitter is clearly pregnant, her hand resting protectively across her belly. This well observed gesture exemplifies the greater interest in naturalism found in English paintings of the early 17th century.
The portrait is a symbol of the hope and need of these two great families for a male heir to the Earldom of Northumberland. Alas, no son was born and Anne, Countess of Northumberland died in December 1637 aged 26.
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYKE (1599-1641) was the greatest master of the European baroque portrait. Born in Antwerp, he first visited England in 1620. In 1632 he entered the service of King Charles I as Court Painter, and was knighted in 1633.
His clientele was essentially the aristocratic circle of courtiers, many of whom lived in a romantic royalist dream world which collapsed in ruins in the Civil War, soon after Van Dyck's death.
Sir Anthony Van Dyke's influence on the art of the portrait is almost beyond measure.
SIZE:47 x 39.5 inches inc. frame.
PROVENANCE: for many years in a Cheshire Private Collection.
A head and shoulders version of this portrait is at Lennoxlove House in the Collection of the Duke of Hamilton.
At Burghley House, ancestral home of the Cecils, is a beautiful portrait by Van Dyck of Lady Anne before her marriage.
Roy and nadine precious: specialists in portraiture from the 16th to the 20th century. Established in 1972.
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Sold....portrait of Lady Anne Cecil C.1635; Circle of Van Dyck
