"Attributed to the circle of the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck and dated to the 1640s, this painting represents Henrietta Maria (1609–1669), the queen consort of Charles I of England (1600–1649) and the daughter of Henry IV of France (1553–1610). The majority of his works during this period were portraits of royal family members, powerful court figures, and their families, testifying to his reputation as portraitist. Van Dyck is known to have created at least 20 different images of Henrietta Maria. From these his assistants, while simulating the master’s painterly brushwork, made numerous high-quality copies and variants in order to meet the demand for the Queen’s images. The Queen was a trendsetter, introducing French fashion trends to the English court. From the late 1630s, van Dyck also introduced a new portrait type by removing a number of fashionable elements and symbols of status, authority, and wealth, thereby emphasizing the inner qualities of the sitter and speeding up the portrait production process for himself and his studio." [1]