![Unknown Artist - Portrait of a Woman [c.1540s] | by Gandalf's Gallery](http://live.staticflickr.com/1907/44199271405_61160ca58f.jpg)
Unknown Artist - Portrait of a Woman [c.1540s]
Friedländer included this portrait in a group of twenty-eight by an anonymous Antwerp painter whose name is derived from the date which occurs on a number of the works. It has since been suggested, however, that two portraits could be attributed to Maarten van Heemskerck. A reappraisal of the group, which proves to be not entirely coherent, is therefore necessary. Although the woman’s physical characteristics and costume are similar to those found in some of the other portraits, it seems likely that this painting is a genre work. The parrot and the lute in this case may refer to respectively poetry and love rather than just be favourite objects.
[Institut Néerlandais, Paris - Oil on panel, 70 x 55 cm]
Unknown Artist - Portrait of a Woman [c.1540s]
Friedländer included this portrait in a group of twenty-eight by an anonymous Antwerp painter whose name is derived from the date which occurs on a number of the works. It has since been suggested, however, that two portraits could be attributed to Maarten van Heemskerck. A reappraisal of the group, which proves to be not entirely coherent, is therefore necessary. Although the woman’s physical characteristics and costume are similar to those found in some of the other portraits, it seems likely that this painting is a genre work. The parrot and the lute in this case may refer to respectively poetry and love rather than just be favourite objects.
[Institut Néerlandais, Paris - Oil on panel, 70 x 55 cm]