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Details / Information for Portrait of a Woman

Portrait of a Woman

1635 or earlier
(Dutch, 1606–1669)

and Studio

Netherlands
oil on wood
Framed: 97.8 x 83.8 x 6.4 cm (38 1/2 x 33 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 77.5 x 64.8 cm (30 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.)
The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection 1944.90
Location: 213 Dutch Painting
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

This painting is probably a pendant to a portrait of a man that is now at the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art in Japan. Both were cut down from their original rectangular shape.

Description

At the age of 25, Rembrandt moved from his hometown of Leiden to the bustling city of Amsterdam. Within a few years he had become one of the city’s most successful portrait painters, creating remarkably vivid likenesses that seemed to express the personality and soul of the sitter. Here, Rembrandt used smooth, fluid brushstrokes to recreate the soft texture of the woman’s skin. In contrast, thicker, more textured strokes draw attention to the lavish display of her lace collar and gold jewelry—details sure to please a wealthy client. The extraordinary demand at that time for a portrait by Rembrandt meant that in many cases (including, probably, this painting) he called upon assistants to help complete the work.
Oval oil painting of a woman with light skin tone from the waist up, turned slightly to our left. She wears a black dress contrasting with a white, scallop-edged lace collar, hanging in a semi-circle around her shoulders, with four rows of pearls above it at the neck and a circular, jeweled flower broach resting lower center. Her wispy, brown hair gathers around her ears, more lace outlining it with another jeweled flower in it.

Portrait of a Woman

1635 or earlier

Rembrandt van Rijn, Studio

(Dutch, 1606–1669)
Netherlands

See Also

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Portrait with Personality

The Artist, Rembrandt van Rijn?

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