Portrait of an Middle-aged Woman

Portrait of a Middle-aged Woman from 1679 by Nicolaes Maes is one of his many portraits documenting the women of Amsterdam's prosperous classes. The middle-aged sitter is presented with the dignity appropriate to her social standing, Maes's naturalistic approach neither flattering nor harsh but honest in its rendering of a woman in mid-life. Maes trained with Rembrandt in Amsterdam in the early 1650s before establishing himself as an independent master. His mature portrait style absorbed Flemish elegance—producing fashionable likenesses with looser brushwork and warmer flesh tones. The portrait renders the mature sitter with Maes's balanced approach to characterization, combining truthful observation with the social dignity appropriate to a woman of her standing. Held in the collection Lavalard Frères de Roye.

The portrait renders the mature sitter with Maes's balanced approach to characterization, combining truthful observation with social dignity.