Dutch (formerly attributed to Jan VICTORS)
c.1640
Portrait of a lady
oil on canvas
126.0 x 104.0cm
Purchased 1979
E1-1979


This is an intriguing painting because of the mystery surrounding its attribution. It is a work of very high standard in both execution and technique and it is strange that an artist cannot be identified for such a quality work.

Judging from the costume it was painted around the 1640s in Holland. The artist has learned certain techniques from the great Dutch master Rembrandt, yet it does not have Rembrandt's inventive quality nor the emotional intensity associated with Rembrandt's portraits.
We do not know who the sitter is, but we know that it was a pendant painting of a portrait of a man, most likely her husband. The works were separated after a sale in New York in 1918 and the male part of the pair has slipped from public eye.

Perhaps if this painting were located the true artist of this wonderful portrait could be identified, as could the sitter.