Portrait of a Woman (van der Weyden)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Portrait of a Young Woman (or Lady Wearing a Gauze Headdress) is a painting completed between 1435–1440 by the Netherlandish artist Rogier van der Weyden. The sitter in this small work wears a wide, white hennin over a brown dress, which features a black-lined, v-shaped neckline. As is usual of van der Weyden's female portraits, her hands are clasped tightly in prayer, while her expression is generally humble. Yet, unusually, she does not bow her head or gaze into the middle distance. Instead she looks directly at the viewer, creating an uncomfortably intimate relationship between sitter, viewer and artist. Art historian Lorne Campbell described the work as "appealing and vibrant". The portrait was held in the collection of a Princess Soltikoff in Saint Petersburg until acquired by the Berlin State Museums in 1908.
