Portrait of a Woman

Artist Ambrosius Benson (South Netherlandish, ca. 1495-before 1550)

Place of OriginNetherlands

Dateabout 1525-1530

DimensionsH: 16 in. (40.6 cm); W: 10 5/8 in. (27 cm)

MediumOil on wood panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1950.239

Not on View

Label TextDressed richly in velvet, fur, gold-embroidered sleeves, and gold and pearl jewelry, this unknown Flemish woman—her hands pressed together devoutly in prayer—is undoubtedly wealthy. The artist, Ambrosius Benson, was based in Bruges (in modern-day Belgium) and painted not only portraits of the wealthy merchant class, but also large-scale altarpieces. This portrait, painted on wood panel, was possibly originally joined with hinges along the right side to a second panel depicting the Virgin Mary and Christ Child or a saint important to the woman. Such devotional images were popular in the 16th century in what is now modern-day Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and regions of northern France. They were not meant to be hung on the wall, as here, but displayed standing up. They were portable, so could be carried from room to room or from house to house for those wealthy enough to have multiple homes.Published ReferencesWalpole, H., Catalogue of Pictures and Drawings in the Holbein Chamber at Strawberry Hill, 1760.

Walpole, H., Anecdotes of Painting in England, London, 1762, (1849 ed., I, p. 94).

Walpole, H., A Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole...at Strawberry Hill, London, 1784, (1964 reprint, p. 44).

Friedländer, M. J., Die Altniederländische Malerei, Leyden, 1934, XI, no. 293.

Wijsenbeek, L., De Kunstbeurs to Delft, Maanblad Voor Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, XXVI, June 1950, pp. 157-160, repr. fig. 2, p. 159 (English translation in doc file).

Marlier, G., Ambrosius Benson et la peinture à Bruges au temps de Charles-Quint, Damme, 1957, p. 246, no. 128, pl. LXVII.

Riefstahl, Rudolf M., "European jeweled arts," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News,/i>, vol. 13, no. 3, Autumn 1970, p. 52, repr.

Friedländer, M. J. (ed. H. Pauwels), Early Netherlandish Painting, New York, 1974, XI, no. 293, pl. 182.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 21-22, pl. 80.

Hackenbroch, Yvonne, Renaissance Jewellery, London, 1979, (det.) repr. p. 225.

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Guildhall Art Gallery, Exhibition of Works by Flemish and Modern Belgian Painters, 1906, no. 63.

London, Royal Academy, Works by the Old Masters, 1908, no. 5.

Delft Art Dealers' Fair, 1950, no. 2, repr. in cat., (shown by Hoogendijk as Portrait of a Lady, by Ambrosius Benson).