Posthumous Portrait of Mary I Stuart (1631- 1660) with a Servant

Mary Stuart, daughter of the king of England, was the wife of the Dutch stadholder Willem II of Orange-Nassau. She died at the age of just 29. This portrait was painted a couple of years later by Hanneman, who was the most important portrait painter of The Hague at the time.

Mary is dressed up as an ‘American’ or ‘Indian’, ready to go to a fancy dress ball. She is wearing a cloak of feathers and an ostrich feather turban. The whole picture is made more even more exotic by the black servant beside her.