The sitter in this portrait is expensively dressed in a black coat and hat. Black was a fashionable colour which was costly to produce at the time, as it required an extensive process of dying to build up the required depth of shade.
Literature:
– Cooper, T. A Guide to Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, London, (2008).
– Cooper, T. Citizen Portrait: Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite of Tudor and Jacobean England and Wales,
London, (2012).
– Reynolds, A. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London, (2013).