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Description: | 'To those used to van der Helst's swashbuckling militia portraits... this restrained portrait of an unknown woman may come as a surprise. The surface is highly polished and the colour kept to a minimum. It is likely that the artist painted a portrait of the sitter's husband, as yet unidentified. Portraits of this type were very rarely commissioned singly. It is also difficult to establish the sitter's social status since it was the custom at the time for everybody to dress rather similarly when sitting for a portrait. Thus a rich merchant's wife would not wear expensive jewellery even if she possessed it.' (Wright, 2002, p. 49). While the sitter for this portrait might not be from the wealthiest family, it is none the less clear from the quality of the lawn, the lace at her neck and wrists and the gold jewellery that she wears, that her family is on a sound economic footing | Subjects: | portrait | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Helst, Bartholomeus van der (Dutch painter, 1613-1670) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8716... | Go to resource |
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