The Blaffer Foundation Collection

British Paintings

Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland

return

		Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland 1603 85 1/8 x 50 in. (216.5 x 127 cm.) Oil on canvas BF.1985.19
Viscount and Viscountess Falkland were married in 1602, just before this portrait of the viscount was painted. The viscountess´s portrait, also in the Blaffer collection, was painted some years later and by a different artist but probably as a companion to that of her husband, since the dimensions are nearly identical. Both are typical early 17th-century English portraits, with their stiff poses, flattened space, and emphasis on costume. The sunburst motif on the viscount´s glove is echoed in the pattern on his wife´s dress and even in her elaborate coiffure. The viscountess´s dress is a fanciful masque costume rather than typical clothing of the period. Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation