A young boy with pale skin and short brown hair, wearing a black and gold jerkin and breeches, white lace collar, and buttercup-yellow stockings, stands facing us with a dog at his heels in this vertical portrait painting. The boy is brightly lit so the area around and behind him are deep in shadow. His body is angled slightly to our right but he turns to look at us with green eyes under faint brows. He has a round face, a short nose, and the corners of his closed, coral-pink lips turn slightly up. His hair is parted in the middle and bangs sweep to each side of his forehead. He stands with his left fist resting on his hip so his elbow juts out. His other arm rests by his side and he holds the dog’s chain-link leash in that hand. The boy's right foot, on our left, points toward us. His close-fitting, belted jacket, breeches, and hip-length cape are embroidered with gold on black. He has a delicate lace collar at his neck, bright yellow stockings on his calves, and brown, round-toed shoes. The chain he holds connects to the collar on the brown and white dog, which could be a puppy. The dog’s collar is lined with large brass bosses like a row of buttons. The dog stands or sits with its front legs straight, and his back end is hidden by the boy’s legs. The background behind the boy is chestnut brown and the room seems to have a wooden floor. The painting is inscribed in black paint near the upper left corner: “Ao 1623 AET. 4. 7.”

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   In response to dynastic concerns of Genoese patricians, Anthony van Dyck began to portray individual children while in Italy. Painted in 1623, the likenesses of Filippo and Maddalena Cattaneo are among the most endearing of Van Dyck's portraits, in the way they capture the radiant innocence of childhood. As the youngsters look out with wide open eyes and gentle smiles, they captivate the viewer with the disarming directness of their expressions. Nevertheless, Filippo and Maddalena, depicted as the grown-ups they will become, are remarkably serious, as though already conscious of their future adult responsibilities.

   Filippo, his hair parted in the middle, stands with one arm akimbo as would any young nobleman posing for a formal portrait. His elegant wardrobe consists of a jerkin, breeches, a cape embroidered with gold threads, a flat lace collar, and long yellow stockings. The inscription on the wall at the left reveals that Filippo is four years, seven months old. Despite his charming innocence, the boy—his father's heir—assumes a posture of authority and engages us with his frank gaze. His left arm is cocked on his hip, while the other grasps the iron chain that restrains a mastiff puppy, an attribute of constancy and faithfulness. The puppy, not interested in posing, looks wistfully to his left, presumably to the portrait of Filippo's sister Maddalena, which must have hung on that side.

   Maddalena, whose golden tresses are similarly parted in the middle, wears a white woolen dress with large puffy sleeves. The front part of the dress is covered by a fine linen apron trimmed with lace. Standing more frontally than her brother, Maddalena clasps an apple, a gesture symbolic of both chastity and fertility. Although Van Dyck situated both children on a wide marble step before a dimly lit architectural form, he softened the starkness of Maddalena's setting by placing her before a large red pillow decorated with gold tassels.

   A document of 1692 confirms that the two children were the offspring of Marchese (marquess) Giacomo Cattaneo and his wife, Marchesa Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo, whose full length portrait Van Dyck also executed in 1623 (National Gallery of Art, 1942.9.92). It is probable that Van Dyck first portrayed the Marchesa, after which his satisfied sitter and patron asked him to paint her children as well. In the Cattaneo palace in Genoa, the children's pictures flanked the portrait of their mother.

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