Cologne, Unknown artist, 'Portrait of a Woman', about 1495
About the work
Overview
Although we don't know the identity of this woman, her clothing and the objects around her suggest that she was painted in around 1500 and most probably came from Cologne. The portrait was almost certainly part of a diptych (a painting made of two panels), which could have been hinged at the centre. The woman is turned towards the left-hand panel, which might have shown the Virgin Mary or perhaps an image of her betrothed or husband.
The symbols on the ledge – the flowers in the cup and the apple – could refer either to the Virgin or to marriage, but it is unclear which is intended without knowing the subject of the other panel in the diptych. The woman holds a rosary, used as an aid when reciting prayers to the Virgin.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Portrait of a Woman
- Artist
- Cologne, Unknown artist
- Date made
- about 1495
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 38.4 × 28.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Salting Bequest, 1910
- Inventory number
- NG2670
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Susan Foister, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800’, London 2024; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2011Splendour and Glory of the Middle Ages: Cologne masterpieces from the world's great collectionsMuseum Schnütgen4 November 2011 - 26 February 2012
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2014Strange Beauty: Masters of the German RenaissanceThe National Gallery (London)19 February 2014 - 11 May 2014
Bibliography
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1902G.H. de Loo, Exposition de tableaux flamands des XIVe, XVe et XVIe siècles: Catalogue critique, précédé d'une introduction sur 'identité de certains maîtres anonymes, Ghent 1902
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1904G. Lafenestre, 'L'exposition des primitifs français - quatrième et dernier article', Gazette des beaux-arts, 1904, pp. 113-39
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1923W. Hausenstein, Tafelmalerei der alten Franzosen, Bild: Atlanten zur Kunst 7, Munchen 1923
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1959Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The German Schools, London 1959
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1977A. Smith, Late Gothic Art from Cologne (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 5 April - 1 June 1977), London 1977
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1986M. Scott, A Visual History of Costume: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, London 1986
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1997R. Billinge et al., 'Methods and Materials of Northern European Painting in the National Gallery, 1400-1550', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVIII, 1997, pp. 6-52
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2024S. Foister, National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800, 2 vols, London 2024
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.