29 June 2026
Hannah Murphy
From pearls and enamelled pendants to diamond rings and elaborate gold chains, Renaissance portraiture preserves a remarkable visual record of aristocratic jewellery from the period.
As fashions changed, many historic jewels were remodelled or melted down. Renaissance portraiture has therefore become one of our most important sources for understanding the jewellery of the age.
The passage of time has inescapably witnessed evolution on all fronts, with jewellery trends making no exception to this rule. Whilst the wearing of jewels and adornment is nothing new - predating even the civilizations of Ancient Egypt by tens of thousands of years, over the last millennium jewellery has become increasingly accessible, first to royalty and the aristocracy, then gradually across the lower echelons of society.
Of huge significance to our understanding of jewellery in its present-day iteration, the Renaissance saw a transformation of the cultural landscape of Europe, and jewellery flourished with advances in goldsmithing, gemstone cutting and enamel work. Expanding trade networks across the globe brought diamonds, emeralds, rubies and pearls from India, the East and the Americas into European courts, and elaborate jewels became an important feature of court fashion, denoting the wealth and status of the wearer.
In the intervening centuries, even the most exquisite of jewels have been melted down, destroyed and repurposed, remade to suit the shifting styles, or perhaps to meet the needs of the family if prosperity petered. With the loss of so many such pieces, it’s a delight to see beautiful jewels celebrated in portraiture from times past. As artists endeavoured to portray the fine jewels of the sitter, to communicate their social significance, power and prestige, little did they know the broader significance of their work. Portraits from the Renaissance thus serve to capture the existence of fine jewels of the period, long since lost, and moreover, to illustrate how they would have been styled by the wearer.
Understandably, many of the portraits which survive from the 16th and 17th centuries have changed hands a number of times since, with accompanying memories and documentary records of the sitter and artist lost as time elapsed. As styles changed, a given time period would see societal adoption of typical conventions of dress, adornment and pose, aiding our modern understanding of the likely date and geographical origin of a painting and the sitter, whilst thwarting efforts by historians to associate a portrait with a named individual.
For example, Northern European portraits dating from the Late Renaissance into the Early Baroque period typically feature the highly stylised attire characteristic of Flemish or Dutch nobility during the late 1500s. In portraits of the time, many a sitter is depicted wearing a large white cartwheel ruff - a starched linen millstone collar - which was an expensive fashion statement, intended to symbolise wealth and social status. This was often worn over rich gowns, with billowing or lace adorned sleeves.
One such example, which provides a fascinating insight into jewellery of the aristocracy in Northern Europe in the late 1500s and early 1600s, is this Portrait of a Noblewoman (17th Century Flemish School), lot 70 in The Line of Beauty: A Collector’s Pursuit.
The portrait illustrates a finely dressed young noblewoman, depicted in a large cartwheel ruff and a restrained black gown with rich red puffed sleeves, accessorised with a beautiful array of jewellery and hair ornament. The sitter is shown in fashions which were typical of the North European aristocracy in the period of the portrait. Whilst the identity of the sitter and the artist cannot be readily identified, there is little doubt of the wealth and social status of the lady.
The dark clothing, brocades and heavy textiles fashionable in Renaissance Europe required jewellery that would not be lost amongst the finery, as a result jewellers of the time designed pieces which stood out suitably against the fashions which were in favour.
Colourful enamel was one means to contrast the dark finery of the Renaissance period, and the sitter here wears a beautiful floral adornment in her hair, which looks to resemble a pansy, thought to symbolise deep thought or musing. The flower is set to the centre with a single pearl, with further pearl details included within the drop earring(s) and pendant worn by the sitter. The dangling drop earring which floats above the extravagant white collar of the sitter is a beautiful example of one means of adornment atop the extravagant white collars which would obscure the neck and upper chest of the wearer.
Pearls have long borne societal significance, an important symbol of status back through Roman times. In addition to the Old World pearls which had long fascinated European courts, the nobility of the Renaissance benefitted from an influx of pearls from the New World, transported back to Europe by the Spanish following the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean in the 1490s. Pearls became increasingly prominent in jewellery, with wear thought to symbolise purity and virtue. Beyond this, pearls denoted great wealth, status, and access to the rare fruits of global trade.
The rich accessories of the sitter certainly support her noble status, with jewels fashionably adorning her figure at every opportunity. The angle and pose of the sitter mean that the adornment to only one ear is visible, and the same can be said of her wristwear, with a gold bracelet peeking out from below the lace cuff at her wrist. As with earrings, the fashion in Renaissance Europe was to wear bracelets in pairs, with such wristwear worn by men and women alike. Some relics of the time can still be seen as a pair, the most lovely cased together within fitted boxes.
To the centre of the portrait, and perhaps the most intriguing of the noblewoman’s jewels is a lengthy knotted gold chain emerges from below the collar of the sitter, held aloft in her hand and terminating in an impressive oval pendant. Heavy chains were a popular feature of the time, often arranged neatly in place. It is believed that springs were utilised to maintain the position of chains on the chest, though few have survived the ravages of time.
The careful placement of the chain within the hand of a sitter is a purposeful artistic device, utilised skilfully to draw our eye to the chain and pendant, indicating its significance. Of a similar vein, Van Dyke can be seen posing with his gold chain symbolically raised in the celebrated Self-Portrait with Sunflower.
Whilst the finer details of the pendant worn by our sitter are unclear, the beauty and intricacy of the piece are unmistakeable. The centre of the pendant appears to bear the illustration of an animal – perhaps a horse or a lamb – and may be a cameo, or even a pearl. This is set within colourful details which look to be enamel, within an outer border with pearl details and a delicate pearl drop. The commissioning of such a piece would in itself signify the wealth of the sitter, and the artist and sitter would understandably have gone to great lengths to bring it to the attention of the viewer. Surviving examples of Renaissance pendants such as that illustrated are both rare and prized, with examples now best spotted in museum collections, such as the Fettercairn Jewel in the National Museum of Scotland.
Perhaps a by-product of the precisely positioned chain, the keen eye is quickly drawn to the duo of rings positioned on the fourth finger of the sitter. Rings are perhaps the most commonly seen adornment in portraiture, and whilst not always the most exciting or eye-catching, can provide subtle clues as to the marriage status of the sitter.
Diamonds have long been associated with engagement rings, with the first known diamond engagement ring thought to have been given by Maximillian, Holy Roman Emperor, to his beloved, Mary of Burgundy, around 1477. Diamonds were favoured initially for their hardness, even before faceting showcased the potential of their unique brilliance (sparkle!) and were accordingly often illustrated as black within early portraits. Believed to symbolise virtue and constancy, diamonds are often set alongside rubies in early marriage rings, the latter intended to signify romantic love.
The two rings which adorn the fourth finger of the sitter appear to be diamond, and diamond and ruby, respectively. The association of these gemstones with marriage rings could be intended to denote the marriage(s) of the individual illustrated. Indeed, whilst the identity and marital history of our young sitter is unknown, her rings could suggest two marriages in her lifetime.
Given the period of the portrait, dated 1590 (and inscribed ‘A’!) to the top left corner, one could be forgiven for suspecting that young Anne of Denmark (1574-1619) could be our unknown sitter. At the time of this portrait, Anne would have been in her teens, on the precipice of marriage to King James VI/I. Whilst bearing a moderate likeness to the young Queen, our sitter is depicted in reasonably restrained costume, adorned with jewels that are beautiful, whilst perhaps not of the extravagance one would expect of royalty. Moreover, it is reasonable to expect that a portrait of Anne around her marriage would incorporate regal motifs or heraldic elements which are absent here.
In absence of an attributed artist, and with the identity of the sitter unknown, the enchanting portrayal of this young woman and her jewellery has nonetheless proven to wordlessly capture elements of her history, captivating a 21st century audience who can’t help but romanticise the story of the sitter and covet her incredible jewels!
