Hidden Love Story | Van Dyck's Venetia, Lady Digby, on her Deathbed

Beneath the brushstrokes of this haunting portrait lies a secret romance, a forbidden marriage, and a heartbreaking loss. Discover the true story behind Venetia, Lady Digby, and the man who loved her so deeply he had her beauty immortalized by Sir Anthony van Dyck. From viper wine to vanished paintings, this tale is anything but ordinary. Watch now to uncover the romance that even time couldn’t erase.

Do you know the hidden love story behind this painting? I'm here at the Dulwich Picture Gallery and this is a painting of Venetia, Lady Digby on her deathbed. Venetia was a renowned beauty at the court of King Charles I, and she fell in love with courtier Sir Kenelm Digby. Sir Kenelm was enamored by Venetia. He even offered her a diamond ring in exchange for a lock of her hair. Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. However, Sir Kenelm's mother didn't approve of the match, and so Venetia and Sir Kenelm married in secret and started a family together. However, in 1633, Venetia suddenly died in her sleep. The cause of her death was most likely due to her consumption of viper wine, which she took to cure her headaches. You won't find a concoction like this in any modern day pharmacy, as it's wine mixed with viper venom, and I wouldn't recommend it.

Sir Kenelm was heartbroken by his wife's passing, and so to capture her beauty even in death, he commissioned his friend, the Flemish artist Sir Anthony van Dyck, to paint Venetia on her deathbed. Van Dyck portrays Venetia in a peaceful state, almost as if she were sleeping. You can see a hint of blush on her cheeks, indicating at the vitality that she had during her lifetime. The pink hue in her cheeks also draw the eye to the falling rose petals on her bedside. Van Dyck would complete the painting several weeks after Venetia’s death, and Sir Kenelm wrote to his brother about the painting that quote ‘He hath expressed with admirable art every circumstance about her, as well as the exact manner of her line. As for the likeness of her face, and hath altered or added nothing about it’.

In a letter addressed to his brother, Sir Kenelm wrote about the painting, calling it, quote, ‘the masterpiece of all excellent ones, the ever Sir Anthony van Dyck made.’ Sir Kenelm would call the painting the only constant companion I now have. Sir Kenelm would also go on to write letters eulogizing Venetia, and he commissioned works by several poets under his patronage to publish a volume called In Praise of Venetia. Kind of makes the standard flowers and chocolates on Valentine's Day seem a little poor now.

And the tragedy continues because Sir Kenelm lost possession of the painting after fleeing England during the English Civil War, and on his own deathbed, Sir Kenelm wrote that ‘he wished to have his dust supplied by hers. Who was my greatest worldly blessing.’

And we're all out here fighting to get a text back. Happy Valentine's Day.