Portrait of a Woman

Rembrandt painted this portrait of a woman in 1633, in Amsterdam. He was 27, at the beginning of his career as the city's leading portrait painter, and he was producing portraits at a rate of one every few weeks. This painting is one of a pair: the companion portrait, of the woman's husband, hangs beside it in the same museum. A woman stands facing the viewer, her body turned slightly to the right. She wears a black dress with a white lace collar and a black cap. Her face is illuminated against the dark background, with the light falling from the left. Her expression is serious and composed, her eyes meeting the viewer's directly. Her hands are not visible. The painting is a portrait of a specific person, but the identity of the sitter is not known. Rembrandt painted this portrait in the same year he married Saskia van Uylenburgh, and the confidence of his brushwork reflects his rising status. He had moved to Amsterdam in 1631 and quickly established himself as the most sought-after portrait painter in the city. His portraits of this period are characterized by their strong lighting, their psychological directness, and their rapid, confident execution. He charged 100 guilders for a portrait of this size, a high price for the time. The painting is in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Braunschweig, one of the oldest museums in Germany. The museum acquired it in the 18th century, and it has been there since. The companion portrait of the husband is also in the museum, and the two paintings are displayed together. Oil on panel, 67 by 49 centimeters, roughly 26 by 19 inches. Rembrandt painted on a smooth wood panel, building the face in thin layers of warm color over a dark ground. The lace collar is painted with thin strokes of white, each strand individually rendered. The black dress is built in layers of deep black with subtle variations in tone. The face is the focus, with the light concentrated on the forehead, cheeks, and nose. The vertical format and dark palette make this print work well in a study, hallway, or living room with traditional furniture. The portrait subject suits a room with dark wood and warm lighting. A dark wood frame matches the painting's tonal range. The 11x14 or 12x16 size gives the face and the lace collar enough detail to appreciate up close. This is a public domain artwork. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.