Portrait of Madame Law
Claude Duflos (French, 1665–1727) after Rosalba Carriera (Venetian, 1673-1757), 1720, etching and engraving
Based on a work by the Venetian portraitist Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757), this print depicts John Law’s common-law wife and partner-in-crime, Lady Katherine Knollys. After Law’s “System” collapsed, she fled to Venice, and her portrait here consequently evokes a “Wanted” sign: surrounded by an elaborate frame, she holds a Carnival mask, while the Doge’s Palace and a group of commedia dell’arte revelers appear in the background. In the inscription below the image, she boasts of her husband’s cunning, claiming that she will take charge of their affairs, or “act the part of both man and wife,” until their “honor” can be restored.
: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs
The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries.
