PORTRAIT DU COMTE HENRI DE BERGHE

1624

Quarantine During the Plague in Palermo

In Palermo Van Dyck found himself in quarantine during the plague of 1624, one of the most severe in Sicily's history; there he created an important series of paintings of Saint Rosalia, the city's patroness, establishing her iconography for the Italian Baroque.

1624

Invitation to Palermo

In April 1624 Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Viceroy of Sicily, invited Van Dyck to Palermo to paint his portrait.

1626–1632

The Iconography Print Series

After returning to Antwerp, Van Dyck conceived a large series of engraved portraits of his contemporaries, the Iconography; he etched eighteen plates himself, executing the preparatory drawings mainly between 1626 and 1633. The first edition (80 plates) appeared in Antwerp in 1632.

1627

Return to Antwerp

In 1627 Van Dyck returned from Italy to Antwerp, where he remained for five years, creating portraits of the Flemish nobility and large altarpieces, and beginning to work in printmaking.

1629

Beginning of His Relationship with Charles I

Van Dyck's relationship with Charles I began in 1629: through the intermediary Sir Endymion Porter, the king acquired his painting Rinaldo and Armida.

by 1630

Court Painter to Archduchess Isabella

From 1630 Van Dyck was court painter to Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia of Habsburg, regent of the Spanish Netherlands; for her portrait he received a gold chain.