Portrait of a Young Woman

Description

Although the identity of this woman is unknown, the inscription near her head notes her age, 24, and the silver chain at her waist and the leather gloves in her hand indicate that she was of high social status. In the mid-16th century, many members of Antwerp’s newly wealthy merchant class commissioned half-length, small-scale likenesses such as this one to commemorate their prosperity and standing. This rare portrait by Joachim Beuckelaer shows the same attention to sartorial details he displayed in the market scenes for which he is better known.

Provenance

Friedrich Wilhelm von Thulemeier (died 1811) Berlin [according to Christoph Martin Vogtherr, letters of February 23 and July 12, 2001]; bequeathed to King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia (died 1840), Schloss, Berlin [Möbelkammer inventory 1824, no. M279]; by descent in Prussian royal collection until 1926 [apportioned to the Hohenzollern family in the 1926 division of the Prussian royal collection between the royal family and the Prussian state and subsequently sold]. Galerie van Diemen, Amsterdam, by 1926 to at least 1930 [according to Van Regteren Altena 1926 and Friedländer 1936]. Mrs. Caroline G. Doty, Swampscott, Massachusetts (died 1988); sold Christie's, New York,11 January 1989, to Marco Grassi as agent for Silvano Lodi, Campione d'Italia; sold to the Art Institute, 1989.

Portrait of a Young Woman

Joachim Beuckelaer

1562

Accession Number

109487

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

42.5 × 32.3 cm (16 3/4 × 12 3/4 in.); Framed: 61 × 50.8 × 7.7 cm (24 × 20 × 3 in.)

Classification

oil on panel

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. George B. Young in memory of her husband; estate of Arma S. Wyler; Alexander A. McKay, Arma S. Wyler and European Painting Purchase funds