''Portrait of a Noblewoman with an Attendant'' is an oil-on-canvas portrait by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

executed ''c.'' 1606. It probably shows Maria Grimaldi, daughter of

Carlo Grimaldi Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

, a marquess who in 1607 loaned his villa at Sampadierna to Rubens and his patron Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. The attendant is probably a man with

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

, then a popular custom at European courts. The painting is now owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, being acquired in 1982 as part of their

Kingston Lacy Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. It was for many years the family seat of the Bankes family who lived nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War after its incumbent ow ...

property.

External links

nationaltrustcollections.org.uk
{{17C-painting-stub 1606 paintings Portraits by Peter Paul Rubens Noblewoman with a Dwarf Paintings in Kingston Lacy