The portrait was most likely painted in 1622, during Van Dyck's lengthy stay in Genoa, where he became the official portraitist of the members of the Genoese aristocracy. Luigia Cattaneo-Gentile was bought from the Durazzo family by Wilhelm von Bode in 1890 and was long thought to represent a marchesa from the House of Durazzo. The identification with the House of Cattaneo-Gentile instead, while already hypothesized in 1890, was only confirmed in 1986 by the Van Dyck specialist, Susan J. Barnes.[1]
From 1929 to 1965, the painting was attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, which was testament to its superior pictorial qualities, until the Rubens specialist Justus Müller-Hofstede determined that it was definitely an early masterpiece by a young Anthony van Dyck.[1][2]
^ abcHubrecht, Joël (February 2009). Collection du musée des Beaux-Arts – Peinture flamande et hollandaise XVème-XVIIIème siècle. Strasbourg: Musées de la ville de Strasbourg. pp. 96–98. ISBN978-2-35125-030-3.
^ abJacquot, Dominique (2006). Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. Cinq siècles de peinture. Strasbourg: Musées de Strasbourg. pp. 134–135. ISBN2-901833-78-0.