This stately portrait of a Flemish aristocrat depicts her wearing a black costume with figure-eight molenkraag and matching wrist collars. There is a fan in her left hand and a triple string pearl necklace with a solid gold and diamond brooch is predominatly placed across her front. Black fabrics were predominant partly because they implied sobriety and modesty. However black was the most expensive colour to produce. The colour was also fashionable and artists strove to depict the rich detail and texture of the fabrics. The large “figure eight” collar as it was sometimes refered to, could take up to 15 metres of fabric to create. They grew in size and depth up to about the 1630s before being replaced by a flatter style. They were often held in place by wire and men wore their hair short during this period in part so it did not get caught in the collar.The work, inscribed with the sitter’s coat of arms upper right, is striking in its portrayal of wealth and glorification of ...