Portrait of Elisabeth Báthory (1560 ?–1614)

The portrait was probably painted in the 17th century, after Báthory’s death. The position and the clothing of the poorly painted figure is almost completely the same as on the 1626 portrait of Christina Nyáry, the wife of Miklós Esterházy I. It may be suggested that the portrait of Elisabeth was painted by one of the Báthory descendents, just to have a fictive image of her in the ancestors’ gallery of the family. The clothing worn by Elizabeth reflects a mixture of traditional Hungarian and Western European fashion. She is wearing a Hungarian dress with a gauze bodice and an apron decorated with lace. The dress is combined with starched Spanish collar, which were supported by stays or wires to maintain their shapes.