An Old Lady with a Book

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1637

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a black dress with white cuffs and a wide, starched collar sits in a wooden chair against a dark brown background in this vertical portrait painting. Her body faces us and she looks off to our left with brown eyes. She has slight jowls at her chin and her eyes, mouth, and forehead are lined. Her hair is pulled back under a close-fitting black cap. Extending straight from around her neck, her white collar is pleated into narrow figure-eights and nearly reaches her shoulders. She wears a brown stole over her velvety black dress, and both nearly blend with the dark background. She holds a pair of pince-nez spectacles in her right hand, which rests on a thick book in her lap. The spine faces her right, and the opposite edge is fastened with metal clasps. A braided cord affixed to the narrow end of the book near us creates a loop.
Artiste
Rembrandt van Rijn
Datation
1637
Catégorie
Peinture
Technique
Huile sur toile
Dimensions
109,7 × 91,5 cm
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licence
Domaine public, CC0

Description de l’image

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a black dress with white cuffs and a wide, starched collar sits in a wooden chair against a dark brown background in this vertical portrait painting. Her body faces us and she looks off to our left with brown eyes. She has slight jowls at her chin and her eyes, mouth, and forehead are lined. Her hair is pulled back under a close-fitting black cap. Extending straight from around her neck, her white collar is pleated into narrow figure-eights and nearly reaches her shoulders. She wears a brown stole over her velvety black dress, and both nearly blend with the dark background. She holds a pair of pince-nez spectacles in her right hand, which rests on a thick book in her lap. The spine faces her right, and the opposite edge is fastened with metal clasps. A braided cord affixed to the narrow end of the book near us creates a loop.

Rembrandt van Rijn