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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Jonathan Jones

Divine rule: Anthony van Dyck's Rachel de Ruvigny, Countess of Southampton, as Fortune

Rachel de Ruvigny, Countess of Southampton, as Fortune, by Anthony van Dyck
In this dazzling portrait done shortly before the civil war, a British aristocrat poses as a heavenly being. Self-confident? Just a bit. Rachel de Ruvigny in about 1638 has the shining globe of the goddess Fortune and wears a shimmering dress of ethereal yet metallic blue. It is a painting at once grand and harsh, its sunburst of fiery light amid the clouds propelling this majestic woman into a Baroque vision of the heavens themselves. Ridiculous, beautiful and liberating, this portrait puts a woman in glory Illustration: The Fitzwilliam Museum, Image Li
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