Portrait of Catharina Everwijn (1643-?)

Catharina Everwijn (born 1643) was painted by Maes in 1675, when she was in her early thirties. The Brantsen van de Zyp Stichting, a Dutch foundation preserving the heritage of an old regent family, holds this canvas — suggesting the Everwijns were connected to the extended regent network that formed Maes's primary clientele in his later career. By the mid-1670s Maes had firmly established a fashionable international style influenced by Flemish and French portraiture, departing decisively from Dutch naturalist conventions. Female sitters in this period received elegant three-quarter or half-length formats with soft backgrounds and careful attention to dress and jewellery as signals of taste and wealth. The portrait thus functions both as a personal likeness and as a display of the family's cultural sophistication.

Maes's 1670s female portraits show his mastery of silvery, cool-toned palettes suited to the fashionable fabrics of the period — greys, pale blues, cream silks — painted with a broad, fluid brush. The face retains the warmest tones in the composition, drawing the eye to the psychological centre. Background gradients from dark to lighter tones create illusionistic depth without architectural detail.