Portrait of Susanna Lunden
Portrait of Susanna Lunden or Le Chapeau de Paille (The Straw Hat) is a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, in the National Gallery, London. It was probably painted around 1622–1625.[1] The portrait's subject has not been securely identified, but she may be Susanna Lunden, née Fourment (1599–1628),[2] the older sister of Rubens' future second wife Helena Fourment.[1] If the identification is correct, the portrait probably dates to the time of Susanna's marriage to her second husband, Arnold Lunden, in 1622.[1] The ring on her finger might mean that the painting is a marriage portrait. In the 19th century it was in the collection of Robert Peel at Drayton Manor until 1871 when it was sold to the National Gallery.[1] Rubens' portrait was engraved in 1823 by Robert Cooper (active 1795–1836).[3][4] At that time, it acquired the name Le Chapeau de Paille, which incorrectly describes the hat as "straw" (paille).[1] A sketch of Rubens' painting (ca. 1823–24) by J. M. W. Turner is in the Tate.[5] In 1781, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun and her husband visited Flanders and the Netherlands, which inspired her to paint Self-portrait in a Straw Hat (1782), a "free imitation" of Rubens' Le Chapeau de Paille.[6][7] References
External linksMedia related to Portrait of Susanna Lunden by Peter Paul Rubens at Wikimedia Commons |