Research into Spanish masterpiece ’Lady In A Fur Wrap’

Leading international specialists in art history have launched a collaborative research project centring around one of Glasgow Museums' most famous paintings 'The Lady in a Fur Wrap' attributed to El Greco (1541-1614). The new research is being led by the University of Glasgow, in partnership with Glasgow Museums which owns the painting and related portraits in the important collection formed by Sir William Stirling Maxwell. 'The Lady in a Fur Wrap' has fascinated viewers ever since it was exhibited in the Louvre, Paris, in 1838. Since then, the painting's fame has been linked to the rise in the international reputation of El Greco as its creator, yet the painting presents a conundrum. Direct, informal portraits of Early Modern women are extremely rare and probably unique in a Spanish context. This has led some modern scholars to propose a number of new possibilities regarding who painted it, when, and who the painting features. The project will explore questions of artistic technique, attribution and identity, using scientific analysis as well as research methods involving the history of dress, society and collecting, in an attempt to unpack the complex history and significance of the unique painting, and provide a fuller understanding of who painted it, who it might represent and when it was created.