In the 17th century, Peter Paul Rubens was the most coveted portraitist in northern Europe; he painted the elite members of noble society, scholars, and nights. King Philip IV of Spain sat for his canvas, as did Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria of Genoa, an aristocrat rendered in glittering satin and intended to be viewed from a height, glancing downwards at an audience that was doubtlessly beneath her high-ranking status.