The Cholmondeley Ladies

Measuring 88.6 by 172.3 centimetres (34.9 in × 67.8 in), it was painted on four joined panels of oak, probably in the first decade of the 17th century.

At first sight, the two women and their two babies appear almost identical, each mother wearing similarly elaborate clothing decorated with lace and jewellery, each baby swaddled in a christening robe and held at a similar angle.

On closer inspection, numerous details of the clothing, jewellery, and facial characteristics of the two pairs are seen to differ.

The artist is unknown, but the work is thought to have been painted near the Cholmondeley family's estates in Cheshire.

John T. Hopkins (1991) suggests that the portrait shows two daughters of Sir Hugh and Lady Mary Cholmondeley – Lettice, first wife of Sir Richard Grosvenor, 1st Baronet (and mother of Sir Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Baronet), and Mary Calveley (died 1616), wife of George Calveley.