Lady in a Fur Wrap
Alonso Sánchez Coello, 1577
This half-length portrait shows a young woman with a calm face and a reflective gaze, wrapped in ermine fur with a matching muff. Her hairstyle, made of three rows of small curls, carries a small red bow, one of the few strong touches of colour; the black dress shows only at the sleeves and behind the neck. The soft modelling of the face and the fresh brushwork of the fur give the picture a striking naturalness.
Its authorship has been much debated. For a long time it was attributed to El Greco, and Tintoretto, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz and Sofonisba Anguissola were also proposed. After technical studies carried out at the Prado Museum from 2014, with further analyses in Glasgow and Bern, most specialists now favour Alonso Sánchez Coello, a painter at the court of Philip II, based on the underdrawing and the way the paint layers were applied, which match another work by him in the Prado.
The sitter's identity has also shifted over time. She was once called the daughter or the wife of El Greco, or his lover, and other names, such as the Duchess of Béjar, have been suggested. None of these identifications is confirmed.
- Painter
- Alonso Sánchez Coello
- Date
- 1577
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 62 × 50 cm
- Museum
- Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow City
- Movement
- Mannerism
- Genre
- portrait
- Depicts
- fur, woman
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