Duchess of Lennox and Richmond (1622–1685) with her lady’s maid, the dwarf, Anne Shepherd

Van Dyck employs his characteristic refined brushwork and delicate modeling of fabrics, rendering the textures of silk, fur, and pearls with luminous clarity. The background features a muted landscape of trees beneath a cloudy sky, providing a restrained yet elegant backdrop that enhances the figures’ presence.

After its creation for the English court, the portrait entered private collections before being acquired by a museum. Its attribution to van Dyck has been consistently affirmed through stylistic analysis and documentary evidence linking the work to his tenure as the leading court painter in England.

The painting reflects the conventions of early‑17th‑century aristocratic portraiture, where sitters were often depicted with attendants to underscore status and domestic hierarchy. Van Dyck’s inclusion of a dwarf attendant follows a broader European tradition of portraying court dwarfs as symbols of wealth and patronage.