Tour: Sir Anthony Van Dyck
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Overview
Anthony van Dyck, a true genius at portraiture, revealed the aspirations of his sitters. He often flatteringly elongated his subjects and portrayed them sharply from below to enhance their stature. With elaborate settings, symbolic accessories, and suggestions of movement, Van Dyck made his sitters seem at once grand and alive, inaugurating a style of formal portraiture that is still emulated today. Van Dyck's elegant likenesses were sought eagerly in the Low Countries as well as in Italy and England, where he was knighted. His mythological and religious scenes were also greatly admired and profoundly influenced later generations of artists. (continue)
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