Unknown lady with a coat of arms on a column, 1597

This portrait, attributed by the seller to Frans Pourbus the Younger, was described on the market as that of a Venetian lady holding a «Venetian Lace Fan» and was said to come from a private collection in Florence, Italy. More precisely, its sales title was «Portrait of a Lady with a Venetian Lace Fan c.1595, Remarkable condition 1597».

From a heraldic point of view, the work presents, as a significant element, a coat of arms of oval shape painted on the column accompanying the figure. Oval forms are often associated with the shields of married women; if this late-sixteenth-century shield originated, for example, in England, one could be more confident that there is a relationship between the oval shape of the shield and the lady depicted. Originating in Italy, and more specifically in Venice, this oval shape may have been chosen either because the sitter was a woman or simply as a matter of fashion, since in that period and region oval shields can also be found in ecclesiastical contexts and used by men, the oval then being regarded as a form more architectural and artistic than combative.

I became aware of this painting because I was asked by a university whether I could identify the coat of arms on the column. The identification of coats of arms in historical painting is a slow, uncertain task and, in most cases, an unproductive one. It may require hours, days, weeks or even years, and often does not lead to definitive results. For this reason, I generally try to avoid this type of research.

In this particular case, I was unable to identify it. However, coats of arms, once seen, remain in visual memory; that is precisely what they are designed to do. Twenty months later, while casually reviewing a series of heraldic records published by the Italian heraldist, «Vittorio|Gifra», one of them caught my attention at an unconscious level. I continued moving through the series, but an unmistakable sense arose that something relevant had been overlooked, which led me to go back and examine the entry again with care. At that moment, the lady with the Venetian fan and the coat of arms painted on the column of the portrait immediately came to mind.

The consulted entry stated verbatim: «Stemma famiglia #VOGANZI. @voganzi Arma: d’azzurro, a due tibie in decusse al naturale, accantonate da quattro gigli d’oro. A.S.Mi. Reg. 0002: stemmario Marco Cremosano - 1673; [...] et anco di diverse Famiglie d’Italia, Vol. II°, p. n°333, posizione, 3^ fila e 3° stemma da sx a dx. [Cfr.: Archinto: «de #VOGANZA de Venetia» (I 13 V a)]. Vittorio Gifra. Lun01-12-2025».

Indeed, it had been found: the coat of arms on the column belongs to the Voganzi family of Venice, whose arms are, in Italian «d’azzurro, a due tibie in decusse al naturale, accantonate da quattro gigli d’oro» ~ in English «Azure, two tibiae proper in saltire, between four fleurs de lis Or» ~ in Castilian «escudo de azur, dos tibias al natural en sotuer, cantonadas de cuatro flores de lis de oro».

I then proceeded to document the finding and inform the interested parties.

In the Archinto, the form «Voganza» appears, referring to a specific individual or to the nominal origin of the lineage, in the singular; for example, «una dama de la casa Voganza». By contrast, in the stemmario by Marco Cremosano the form «Voganzi» is recorded, which corresponds to the plural commonly used to designate the collective body of members of the Voganza family. Taking into account that only about 70 years elapsed between the portrait (1597) and the stemmario (1673), it is plausible that at the time the painting was made the surname could already appear as «Voganzi» or in a very similar form. Although surnames do evolve over time, the interval considered is not one of centuries, but of 7 decades.

My most important doubt in this identification concerns the colour of the field; when I first saw it, I hesitated between sable and azure. It seemed too light to be sable, I thought; it could be azure, but it is not very azure, so in my notes I left it as: «either sable or azure».

When I depict elements in saltire, I usually give precedence to the bend over the bend sinister, so my natural inclination would be to place the tibia bendwise above the tibia in bend sinisterwise. In this case, however, I have placed the tibia bend sinisterwise above, in order to remain consistent with the coat of arms on the column. In any event, this is merely an artistic detail, with no relevance from the standpoint of heraldic description, which is the same in both cases.

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Categories: Identification, Interpreted, Watercolor, Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Without divisions, Azure, Two, Tibia, Proper, In saltire, Cantoned, Four, Fleur de lis and Or.

Francisco Sarandeses Pérez, of the Institute of Asturian Studies and of the International Institute of Genealogy and Heraldry, «Heraldry of Asturian Surnames», 408 pages, black and white illustrations, 27 centimeters, includes bibliography and indexes, foreword by H.R.H. The Duke of Calabria, prologue by The Hon. Mr. Julio de Atienza, Baron of Cobos de Belchite, photographs by Mr. Jesús González-Galatea, published by the Asturian Studies Institute of the José María Quadrado Trust, Superior Center for Scientific Research, Provincial Council of Oviedo, printed by Gráficas Europa. Legal Deposit S. 137-1966, Oviedo, 1966.

Cover of the original 1966 edition reproduced in the second facsimile edition of 1994.

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Bibliographical reference of century XX.

Classification: Castilian language and In black and white.

The author is Sarandeses Pérez, Francisco.

The following article cites this bibliographic reference:

• Sarandeses Pérez, F.; 1994

Francisco Sarandeses Pérez, of the Institute of Asturian Studies and of the International Institute of Genealogy and Heraldry, «Heraldry of Asturian Surnames», 408 pages, 89 color plates, black and white illustrations, 27 centimeters, includes bibliography and indexes. prologue to the facsimile edition by Dolores Duque de Estrada Castañeda and Fernando Alós Merry del Val, facsimile edition published by the Royal Institute of Asturian Studies of the José María Quadrado Trust, Superior Center for Scientific Research, printed by Eujoa Artes Gráficas, ISBN 84-87212-26-3, Legal Deposit AS.-1.309/94, Oviedo, 1994.

Reference to the original edition of 1966

The facsimile edition faithfully reproduces the original 1966, [Sarandeses Pérez, F.; 1966], published by the Provincial Council of Oviedo, with a foreword by H.R.H. The Duke of Calabria, prologue by The Hon. Mr. Julio de Atienza, Baron of Cobos de Belchite, and photographs by Mr. Jesús González-Galatea.

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Bibliographical reference of century XX.

Classification: De bibliotheca, Castilian language and Black and white with color plates.

Author: Sarandeses Pérez, Francisco.

Internal resources: A facsimile edition as a physical book on paper.

Azure, a castle triple-towered per pale Argent and Or, masoned Sable, port and windows Azure, between in chief two bars wavy Argent, in base two bars wavy Argent.

Arms designed by me, in plain tinctures, outlined in Sable, with a semi-circular outer contour and with a texturized finishing.

The arms of Kevin Larkin from Ireland and Spain, designed and emblazoned by me. Alternative blazon using the heraldic term gemel: «Azure, a castle triple-towered per pale Argent and Or, masoned Sable, port and windows Azure, between two bars gemel wavy Argent, one in chief and one in base». Note that since there are 2 bars and both are gemel, they total the same 4 as when we describe 2 in chief and 2 in base.

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Blazon keywords: Azure, Argent, Or, One, Two, Castle, Triple-towered, Party per pale, Masoned, Port and windows, Between, In chief, Bar, Wavy, In base and Gemel.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Plain tincture and Semi-circular.

Classification: Personal, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Larkin, Kevin.

Azure, a castle triple-towered per pale Argent and Or, masoned Sable, port and windows Azure, between in chief two bars wavy Argent, in base two bars wavy Argent.

Escudo de azur, un castillo partido de plata y oro, mazonado de sable, aclarado de azur, acompañado en jefe de dos fajas ondadas de plata, y en en punta de dos fajas ondadas de plata.

Coat of arms devised by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, outlined in Sable, with a semi-circular outer contour and with a watercolor finishing.

The arms of Kevin Larkin from Ireland and Spain, designed and emblazoned by me. Blazon in French: «D'azur à la tour partie d'argent et d'or, donjonnée de trois tourelles, maçonnée de sable, ouverte et ajourée du champ, accompagnée en chef et en pointe de deux jumelles ondées d'argent».

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Blazon keywords: Azure, Argent, Or, One, Two, Castle, Triple-towered, Party per pale, Masoned, Port and windows, Between, In chief, Bar, Wavy and In base.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Semi-circular and Watercolor.

Classification: Personal, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Larkin, Kevin.

Azure, a castle triple-towered per pale Argent and Or, masoned Sable, port and windows Azure, between in chief two bars wavy Argent, in base two bars wavy Argent. Motto: «Fortificado por el Sol».

Escudo de azur, un castillo partido de plata y oro, mazonado de sable, aclarado de azur, acompañado en jefe de dos fajas ondadas de plata, y en en punta de dos fajas ondadas de plata. Lema: «Fortificado por el Sol».

Coat of arms devised by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with a semi-circular external shape and with a leather finishing.

The arms of Kevin Larkin from Ireland and Spain, designed and emblazoned by me. In heraldry, the rule of tinctures states «no color on color, no metal on metal». This means a castle metal Argent cannot bear a castel metal Or as a charge. However, in this design, the castle is divided party per pale, vertically, into Argent and Or. This division allows both metals to coexist, as each metal occupies one side of the charge without violating the tincture rule. Similarly, in a party field, both quarters can be of the same type, either color or metal, making this design heraldically correct.

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Blazon keywords: Azure, Argent, Or, One, Two, Castle, Triple-towered, Party per pale, Masoned, Port and windows, Between, In chief, Bar, Wavy, In base and Motto.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Semi-circular and Leather.

Classification: Personal, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Larkin, Kevin.

Azure, a castle triple-towered per pale Argent and Or, masoned Sable, port and windows Azure, between in chief two bars wavy Argent, in base two bars wavy Argent. Motto: «Fortificado por el Sol».

Heraldic device designed by me, illuminated with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, with a semi-circular external shape and with a sealed finishing.

The arms of Kevin Larkin from Ireland and Spain, designed, emblazoned, and sealed by me.

Design rationale

The creation of these arms has been guided by Kevin Larkin's life journey, connecting Ballinasloe, Dublin, London, and Alicante. Drawing inspiration from the heraldry of Ballinasloe, the armiger's hometown, and Alicante, his current residence, the design reflects significant elements from both places. Ballinasloe's arms feature a triple-towered castle, symbolizing the O Ceallaigh's historic stronghold and the area's legal traditions. Similarly, Alicante's arms prominently display a triple-towered castle, making it a natural unifying element for the design. The wavy lines represent the River Suck and River Shannon in Ireland above, and the Mediterranean Sea below. Adopting a traditional Spanish style for the arms aligns with Mr. Larkin's life in Spain, embracing its rich heraldic heritage and distinctive artistic symbolism.

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Blazon keywords: Azure, Argent, Or, One, Two, Castle, Triple-towered, Party per pale, Masoned, Port and windows, Between, In chief, Bar, Wavy, In base and Motto.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Semi-circular and Sealed.

Classification: Personal, Created, Design rationale, Boa, Sealed arms and Heraldic document.

Bearer: Larkin, Kevin.

Pere Costa i Cases, «Nobiliario catalán», Library of Catalonia, call number Ms. 513 (153/1 and 153/2), manuscript, illustrated, Volume I: 443 pages; Volume II: 153 pages, Barcelona, 1701-1800.

A search process

This manuscript armorial, likely an autograph by Pere Costa i Cases, contains a compilation of lineages from the Crown of Aragon and other kingdoms. It features hand-painted coats of arms in color. Volume I includes an alphabetical index of families starting on folio 218 (modern pencil numbering), noting that the family names are in the Catalan language. The manuscript is a significant piece of 18^th-century heraldry, combining political, religious, and family armorials.

I reviewed it digitally for the first time while performing the search described below.

I was asked to find and document a Roca coat of arms corresponding to «azure, three chess rocks argent», which are canting arms.

Below is a summary of the search process illustrated with images from the «Memòria Digital de Catalunya» available under «Creative Commons» licenses.

I found online that it could refer to «...the Lords of the castle of Roca del Vallès. Year 1038. [P. Costa, ms]...».

The manuscript armorial created by Pere Costa i Cases during the 18^th century is sometimes cited as «[P. Costa, ms]».

As mentioned, this armorial is available online at the «Memòria Digital de Catalunya», MDC, «Library of Catalonia», where I searched for it.

This armorial contains political, religious, and family coats of arms, as seen in the previous image.

This armorial consists of 2 volumes; the first volume has more pages. To find Roca, I started with the first one, searching the Family Index located at the end of the first volume (the second volume has the index at the beginning). One must be careful because the pencil numbering on each page jumps backward upon reaching the index: from the last page with painted shields, numbered 430, to the first page of the index immediately following, numbered 218.

Under the letter R, I found 'Roca del Valles,' which refers to page 33, coat of arms number 69 of this armorial.

There it was, 'de la Roca,' from the castle of Roca del Valles, depicted as an «azure shield, three chess rocks argent».

I checked the following page for more information; there was another shield with three chess rocks, but it was not what I was looking for. I sent all this information to the person who requested it. This type of research can take hours, days, weeks, months, or even years, and most do not reach a conclusion; that is why I try to avoid them, though in this case, it only took a few hours.

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Bibliographical reference of century XVIII.

Classification: Manuscript, Armorial roll, Castilian language and In color.

Author: Costa i Cases, Pere.

The following articles cite this bibliographic reference:

• Balaguer, municipality of
• Ermengol IX of Urgell

External resources:

• Library of Catalonia, Volume I.
• Library of Catalonia, Volume II.

Continue with: Eschenlauer, Marc.