Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Woman with a Pink
early 1660s
Oil on canvas, 92.1 x 74.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Her forehead crisscrossed with jewels, the sitter of this portrait displays a pink, or carnation, a symbol of love and marriage. The gilt picture frame visible in the background locates her in a luxurious interior, but her pensive expression elevates the portrait beyond a mere statement of status. If scholars are correct in identifying the sitter in the pendant portrait hanging next to this one as Pieter Haringh, then the woman who appears here must be his wife, Elisabeth Delft (ca. 1620–1679). (MET)