Peter Paul RubensFlemish, 1577–1640Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria
Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
National Gallery of Art
Room42 · West Building, Main FloorWashington, D.C., United States
On public display.
- Checked
- 4 hours ago
- In this state since
- Aug 19, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
The Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria is an oil-on-canvas painting by Flemish artist Sir Peter Paul Rubens, dating to 1606. It is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection. It was commissioned by Marchese Giacomo Massimiliano Doria of Genoa and shows his wife (and cousin) shortly after their wedding in 1605; she came from the equally prominent Spinola family. He died in 1613 and she remarried another Doria. It has been trimmed several times on each side, removing the garden shown in the background and the lower part of the figure.
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1961.9.60
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 4 days ago
- Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access
Meanwhile, in the life of Peter Paul Rubens
The whole lifeJuly 1600 – 5 May 1608 · Workplace
Mantua
July 1600 – 5 May 1608
Post: court painter
July 1600 – 5 May 1608
Employed by: Vincenzo I Gonzaga
1606–1608
Commission for the High Altar of the Chiesa Nuova
With the assistance of Cardinal Jacopo Serra, Rubens received his most important commission to date — the high altar of the fashionable new Roman church of Santa Maria in Vallicella (Chiesa Nuova); the first version had to be replaced by a second on three slate panels.
28 October 1608
Departure from Italy Forever
Having finished the commission for the Oratorians, Rubens left Rome without permission on 28 October 1608, hurrying to his ailing mother; despite promises to return to Mantua, he never went back to Italy.
14 November 1608
Death of His Mother
While still halfway from Rome to Antwerp, Rubens received word that his mother, Maria Pypelinckx, had died on 14 November; in December, having reached home, he hung one of the paintings intended for the Chiesa Nuova by her tomb.
![Scenes from the Passion of Christ: The Descent into Limbo [right panel], Andrea Vanni, 1380s](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/4205a539-eadd-4486-89a7-3cff9c1ba428/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
