Portraits of a Married Couple

Dutch School

These pair of portraits are by an anonymous, northern Netherlandish (probably Dutch) artist, and shows the sitters on chairs in a three-quarter length portrait against a neutral, dark background. Both are dressed in black, wear millstone collars and hold gloves in their hands. The faces of the two people are impressive, and bear witness to age and life experience. The man with the sparse beard shows signs of very old age, with a slightly open mouth and large eyes, the woman still shows vitality with a rosy complexion and determined mouth. The man`s clothing is simple, while the woman`s is richly decorated with black embroidery on the black fabric. The man`s ruff is casually and loosely folded, while the woman`s is very strictly and regularly folded, which is a typical difference between men`s and women`s fashion at the time. The woman also holds a book in her hands, and her fingers are decorated with rings. The large age difference between men and women is remarkable. The inscription (AETAT 82) on the male portrait gives the age as 82 years, the inscription on the female portrait with (AETAT 59) as 59 years. The best explanation for this is that the man has remarried.