Materializing the Global: Textiles, Color, and Race in a Genoese Portrait by Anthony van Dyck

The global dimensions of Anthony van Dyck's portrait of Genoese noblewoman Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo have been largely overlooked by art historians. Seventeenth-century Genoa was immersed in the global movement of goods, knowledge, and peoples; these encounters and exchanges shaped Genoa's f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRenaissance quarterly Vol. 76; no. 2; pp. 589 - 644
Main Author Howie, Ana
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.01.2023
Subjects
Consumption
Cosmopolitanism
Culture
Medieval period
Mercantilism
Van Dyck, Anthony (1599-1641)
Italy
Spain
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Summary:The global dimensions of Anthony van Dyck's portrait of Genoese noblewoman Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo have been largely overlooked by art historians. Seventeenth-century Genoa was immersed in the global movement of goods, knowledge, and peoples; these encounters and exchanges shaped Genoa's fashion system. This article situates the portrait within networks of international exchange to explore the meaningful representation of dress and globalized materials. The global is not restricted to Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo's attire, however; it extends to the African servant, whose presence and dress bring the portrait into dialogue with histories of global commodities, race, and Atlantic and Mediterranean slavery.
ISSN:0034-4338
1935-0236
DOI:10.1017/rqx.2023.203