The Cholmondeley Ladies c. 1600-1610

I saw this in the Tate Britain when I was in London at the end of last year. In person you can see it’s fairly large (about 3.5’ tall), and the glossy paint shines under the museum lights. I stood in front of it for a long time. It’s just such a weird and compelling double portrait. The artist is unknown. Here’s a short description from the Tate’s website:

“According to the inscription (bottom left), this painting shows ‘Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family, Who were born the same day, Married the same day, And brought to Bed [gave birth] the same day’. To mark this dynastic event, they are formally presented in bed, their babies wrapped in scarlet fabric. Identical at a superficial glance, the lace, jewellery and eye colours of the ladies and infants are in fact carefully differentiated. The format echoes tomb sculpture of the period. The ladies, whose precise identities are unclear, were probably painted by an artist based in Chester, near the Cholmondeley estates.”