Girl in Blue

Here is a portrait of a small girl in a blue dress painted in 1641 by Johannes Verspronck. At this time, Verspronck was a leading portrait painter in Haarlem. 'Girl Dressed in Blue' is his most famous work and one of the best loved portraits of a child from the seventeenth century. The girl has been portrayed as a real adult. Only her child-like face betrays the fact that she cannot be more than about ten years old. In those days, young girls were dressed in the same way as their mothers. It is not known who this girl is, although we can be certain she came from a wealthy family. This can be seen from her dress decorated with gold laceGold laceGold lace was made of thread wound in pure gold. Many 17th-century gentlemen's and ladies' garments were decorated with gold lace. Sadly, no examples of the art have survived. Sooner or later, the gold lace was invariably melted down for the value of the metal., her excessive jewellery and the feather fan she is holding.