24 March 2015

catharina-van-hemessen-portrait-of-a-lady-ca-1551-bowes-museum-durham

Portrait of a Lady was painted between 1545 and 1554, the year Catharina van Hemessen married Chrétien de Morien, the organist at Antwerp Cathedral: after that she seems never to have painted again… The gesture of the unknown sitter, who plays with the ring on her left hand, suggests that the image is connected with a marriage or betrothal. This painting is now in the Bowes Museum.