17th Century Lady Portrait

You are likely to find exactly the 17th century lady portrait you’re looking for on 1stDibs, as there is a broad range for sale. Finding the perfect 17th century lady portrait may mean sifting through those created during different time periods — you can find an early version that dates to the 18th Century and a newer variation that were made as recently as the 18th Century. Adding a 17th century lady portrait to a room that is mostly decorated in warm neutral tones can yield a welcome change — find a piece on 1stDibs that incorporates elements of black, brown, beige and more. There have been many interesting 17th century lady portrait examples over the years, but those made by John Closterman, Mary Beale, (Circle of) Godfrey Kneller, (circle of) François de Troy and (Circle of) Jan Weesop are often thought to be among the most thought-provoking. These artworks were handmade with extraordinary care, with artists most often working in oil paint, paint and canvas.

The price for an artwork of this kind can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — a 17th century lady portrait in our inventory may begin at $320 and can go as high as $191,572, while the average can fetch as much as $12,489.

An elegant and sophisticated decorative touch in any living space, portrait paintings have remained popular throughout the years and are widely loved pieces of art for display in many homes today.

Portrait paintings are at least as old as ancient Egypt, where realistic, lifelike depictions of the recently deceased — commonly known as “mummy portraits” — were painted on wooden panels and affixed to mummies as part of the burial tradition.

For centuries, painters have used portraiture as a means of expressing a subject’s nobility, societal status and authority. Portraits were given as gifts in Renaissance Europe, and a portrait artist might have been commissioned to help mark a significant occasion such as a wedding or a promotion to high office. Prior to the advent of photography, which eventually replaced painted portraits as a quicker and more efficient way of capturing a person’s essence, the subject of a portrait had to sit for hours until the painter had finished. And during the 18th century in particular, if an artist commissioned for a portrait struggled with how to adequately memorialize and capture a subject’s likeness, sometimes a portrait painting wasn’t completed for up to a year.

Whether it’s part of the gallery-style approach to your living-room or dining-room walls or merely inspiration as you devise an eye-grabbing color scheme in your home, a portrait painting is a timeless decorative object for any interior. A landscape painting or sculpture might give you the kind of insight into a specific region of the world or a different culture that you can ascertain only through art. Similarly, when you take the time to learn about the subject of a portrait painting that you bring into your home — the sitter’s history, the relationship between the sitter and the artist should one exist, the story of how the portrait came to be — that work can become intensely personal in addition to its place as an object for an art-hungry corner of your apartment or house.

On 1stDibs, visit a vast collection of famous portrait paintings or works by emerging artists. Search by medium to find the right portrait paintings for your home in oil paint, synthetic resin paint and more. Find portrait paintings in a variety of styles, too, including contemporary, Impressionist and Pop art, or search by artist to find unique works created by painters such as Mark Beard, Steve Kaufman and Montse Valdés.