December 8: Barbara Sidney

This lovely painting is of Barbara Sidney, Countess of Leicester with six of her eleven children. It was painted in around 1596 by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger and is from the collection of Viscount de Lisle, Penshurst Place.

Barbara Sidney was the wife of poet and soldier Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, brother of poet Sir Philip Sidney and son of Sir Henry Sidney and Mary Dudley.

I love this portrait because it is a lovely example of how young children were dressed the same, regardless of their gender. Boys were not "breeched", i.e. moved into wearing hose and breeches, until they were 5-8 years old. If you look at the child in the middle, who's holding a feather-topped hat, you'll notice he's wearing a sword to differentiate him from his sisters. He's wearing a skirt because he hasn't been breeched yet. The little one on the left, sitting to the right of the Countess, may also be a boy. It's interesting, isn't it?

I do hope you're enjoying my advent calendar!

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