Portrait of a Young Woman

1632

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Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy (Dutch, 1588 - 1650/1656)

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Painted to commemorate her marriage, this portrait of an unknown young woman is the pendant to Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy's "Portrait of a Man". An inscription dates the painting to 1632 and gives her age as twenty-one. As was common in such pairs of paintings, the young woman's three-quarter pose matches her husband's: each turns slightly toward the other while facing the viewer.

Pickenoy was particularly adept at meticulously rendering details of his sitter's costumes, seen here in this carefully accurate portrait of a middle-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 multicolored silk threads.