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Shown from the waist up, a woman looks at us steadily from behind an oval opening in this vertical portrait, which is painted entirely in tones of sepia and golden brown. The woman’s shoulders and face are angled to our left, but she looks at us with large, dark eyes. She has a narrow face with a slightly bumped nose, high cheekbones, a dimple under her lower lip, and her mouth is closed. Her dark hair is pulled back, and curls fall to her shoulders. The bodice of her dress and the voluminous sleeves glint with highlights, suggesting satin or silk. A sheer cloth covering her chest may be lined with pearls, and bows are tied at her shoulders and over her breastbone. She holds one long-fingered hand up to touch the ribbon at her chest, and she wears a ring on that pinky. She holds a closed book by the spine with her other hand down by her waist. A curtain fills most of the background within the oval opening but is pulled aside to show a church tower to the left. The oval opening appears to be ornamented on our side with carved, chubby babies in the lower corners holding a blank banner, paint palette, brushes, maulstick, and books. At the upper corners are a drawing, drafting tools, globe, lute, and caduceus. The artist signed and dated the painting near the woman’s right elbow, to our left: “Cornelius Ionson Van Ceulen fecit 1657.”
Read the visual description

Shown from the waist up, a woman looks at us steadily from behind an oval opening in this vertical portrait, which is painted entirely in tones of sepia and golden brown. The woman’s shoulders and face are angled to our left, but she looks at us with large, dark eyes. She has a narrow face with a slightly bumped nose, high cheekbones, a dimple under her lower lip, and her mouth is closed. Her dark hair is pulled back, and curls fall to her shoulders. The bodice of her dress and the voluminous sleeves glint with highlights, suggesting satin or silk. A sheer cloth covering her chest may be lined with pearls, and bows are tied at her shoulders and over her breastbone. She holds one long-fingered hand up to touch the ribbon at her chest, and she wears a ring on that pinky. She holds a closed book by the spine with her other hand down by her waist. A curtain fills most of the background within the oval opening but is pulled aside to show a church tower to the left. The oval opening appears to be ornamented on our side with carved, chubby babies in the lower corners holding a blank banner, paint palette, brushes, maulstick, and books. At the upper corners are a drawing, drafting tools, globe, lute, and caduceus. The artist signed and dated the painting near the woman’s right elbow, to our left: “Cornelius Ionson Van Ceulen fecit 1657.”

National Gallery of Art · Painting

Anna Maria van Schurman

Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen

Date
1657
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
overall: 31 × 24.4 cm (12 3/16 × 9 5/8 in.) framed: 44.45 × 38.1 × 3.81 cm (17 1/2 × 15 × 1 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Accession number
2002.35.1
Credit line
Gift of Joseph F. McCrindle
Time span
1651 to 1700
Department
CNE-B
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • painted surface
  • Baroque
  • Dutch
  • Acquired after launch of Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century (NGA Online Editions)
  • waist-length facing front
  • portrait
  • Van Schurman, Anna Maria
Provenance

Clement de Jonghe [c. 1624-1677], Amsterdam; (his estate sale, Amsterdam, 15 February 1679 and days following).[1] Jan Six [1618-1700], Amsterdam; (his estate sale, by Jan Pietersz Zomer, Amsterdam, 6 April 1702, no. 111). Joan de Vries; (his sale, The Hague, 13 October 1738, no. 24).[2] Rev. John Fuller Russell [1814-1884], Eagle House, near Enfield, Middlesex, by 1854;[3] (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 18 April 1885, no. 139). Ralph Brocklebank [1840-1921], Haughton Hall, near Tarporley, Cheshire, by 1904;[4] (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 7 July 1922, no. 91). Joseph Fuller Feder [d. 1944], New York; by inheritance to his wife, Edith Mosler Feder [d. 1960], New York; by inheritance to her grandson, Joseph F. McCrindle [1923–2008], New York; gift 2002 to NGA. [1] Frans Laurentius, _Clement de Jonghe (ca. 1624-1677): KunstverKoper in de Gouden Eeuw_, Houten, 2010: 42, 160, 161. [2] Gerard Hoet, _Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderyen…_, The Hague, 1752: 561. [3] Gustav Waagen, _Treasures of Art in Great Britain_, 3 vols., London, 1854: 2:464. [4] R. Radcliffe Carter, _Pictures & Engravings at Haughton Hall, Tarporley, in the possession of Ralph Brocklebank_, London, 1904: x, 34, no. 26.

Inscription

center left, below the cathedral, in the portrait medallion: Cornelius Ionson / Van Ceulen / fecit / 1657

NGA object ID 123073. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.