NARRATOR:
The portrait painters of 17th-century Holland had an uncanny ability to suggest the living, breathing, physical presence of their sitters. Just how they achieved this is beautifully illustrated in this meticulous portrait by Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck. The young woman’s direct gaze and warm smile immediately establish a personal relationship with the viewer. Her body is turned away from us, so that her enormous ruff seems to project beyond the surface of the canvas, into our space. Don’t miss the tiny hairs that halo her brow. Or the lustrous pearls dangling from her fine linen cap.
The sitter is almost certainly a new bride. When women of good family married, it was customary to commemorate the occasion with a portrait. On her forefinger, she wears a simple, jewel-studded wedding band. Her other ring, with its square-cut stone, her dark plumed fan, and her elaborate lace cuffs were all traditional bridal gifts.
But such details are secondary to the vivid impression Verspronck gives us of a vital, handsome and happy young woman embarking on married life. Indeed, she seems to epitomize the qualities of the ideal Dutch wife enumerated in this 17th-century contemporary poem:
ACTOR:
“A wife not proud of her high birth, yet from a line of solid worth.
A wife that by all virtue goes, yet of her gifts but little knows.
A wife, a still and peaceful wife, a foe to all that’s woe and strife.
A wife that never grunts with food, nor goes into a pouting mood.”
Portrait of a Woman
1641
Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck (Dutch, 1601/03–1662)
On View
A gifted pupil of Frans Hals, Verspronck was at his best as a portraitist of women and children. This portrait presumably represents Trijntgen Adamsdr., wife of Haarlem painter Thomas Wyck. The formality of the dark dress and starched linen collar enhances and frames the lively expression of the sitter, whose glance is warm and engaging. The rich fabric of her dress, in combination with her deep lace cuffs and gold embroidered bodice, firmly establishes the lady's wealth and social standing among the Dutch middle class. Her image reflects the Dutch pride and confidence in their new nation's prosperity and stability.
Details
- Artist Name: Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck (Dutch, 1601/03–1662)
- Title: Portrait of a Woman
- Date: 1641
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 31 x 26 in. (78.7 x 66 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1973.34.2.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
David Sellar, London (Paris, 6 June 1889, lot 90).
Stephenson R. Clarke, Haywards Heath (Christie's, London, 29 June 1973, lot 17).
[Edward Speelman, London];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Stephenson R. Clarke, Haywards Heath (Christie's, London, 29 June 1973, lot 17).
[Edward Speelman, London];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
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Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Old Masters on behalf of the Royal Northern Hospital, Holloway
- London, Galleries of Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1925-05 to 1925-06
[on loan]
- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1974-06-25 to 1974-12-16
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