Pieter Stevens van Gunst

Pieter Stevens van Gunst
Netherlands 1659–1724

Anthony van Dyck (after)
Flemish, British 1599–1641

Henrietta Maria, Queen of Great Britain c. 1713–15
engraving
Colin Holden Charitable Trust

Van Gunst’s detailed rendering of opulent fabrics and jewels affirms Henrietta Maria as a woman of style and elegance. When she arrived in London in 1625 as the new bride of King Charles I, Henrietta was accompanied by a vast trousseau of exquisitely embroidered dresses, richly decorated furniture and priceless jewellery.

She had a special love for pearls, illustrated here by the diadem resting in her fashionably ringleted hair, stately necklace and the embellishments on the bodice and sleeves of her dress. As part of her dowry she was given a pair of large teardrop-shaped pearls, likely the earrings we see in this portrait. Now known as the Mancini pearls, they still survive to this day.