Portrait of a Woman

c. 1490–95

Master of the Holy Kinship

(German)

Culture

Germany

Medium

oil on wood

Measurements

Framed: 44 x 34.5 x 5.5 cm (17 5/16 x 13 9/16 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 30.3 x 21.3 cm (11 15/16 x 8 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Bequest of Jane Taft Ingalls 1962.259

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

111 German and Austrian Gothic

Description

This portrait represents a woman in her later middle years holding a rosary made of coral with gold medals. Her identity remains unknown, but the richness and elegance of her black woolen gown with fur-trimmed cuffs and her coif of white sheer linen attest to her comfortable social standing. The prominence of her rosary is perhaps meant to suggest her personal devotion. The panel has been attributed to the anonymous Master of the Holy Kinship the Younger, a painter in Cologne (Germany) with a flourishing workshop in the years around 1500.