Master of half-length female figures, around ... Lot n° 38

Portrait of a Young Woman Oil on oak wood Dimensions: 53 x 44 cm A beautiful young woman is sitting at a table and writing. Her gaze rests on the paper, her hair is tied with a red and white embroidered headband. The clothes, of the same colour, are composed of several layers: red velvet dress with black straps and fur cape. The clothes of the young woman in the painting presented here were decidedly very modern in Flanders in the years 1520-1540. The precious jewels on the décolleté and the belt underline their elegant and sober beauty. The greenish background gives the figure a harmonious contrast, which is carried inside through the shadow of its silhouette. The subject of this painting lends itself to numerous variations of portraits of beautiful half-length female figures, and was probably executed in a period around 1535-1540. Our painting, of great pictorial quality, is thematically adapted to the work of the master of half-length female figures. Not surprisingly, some experts see the names of Abraham Benson and Joos van Cleve in some of these works. Previously at the Dorotheum Vienna, sold at auction in 1986 and privately owned. Detailed report of 8 August 2021, by Prof. Paul Vandenbroeck. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven