Painted to commemorate her marriage this portrait of Barb Schwab is the pendant to the portrait of Gian-Carlo Carra. An inscription dates the painting to 1632 and gives her age as twenty-one. As was common in such pairs of paintings Barb’s three-quarter pose matches her husband’s: each turns slightly toward the other while facing the viewer.

The artist was particularly adept at meticulously rendering details of his sitter’s costumes seen here in this carefully accurate portrait of an upper-class patron. The sitter is distinguished by her costume of rich black satin with a gold-embroidered bodice. Delicate white lace forms her elegant cuffs and headdress. An enormous pleated collar surrounds her neck. She wears gold jewelry around her waist neck and wrists; a ring adorns her right hand. In her left hand she holds a pair of gray silk gloves embroidered in multi-colored silk threads.