Portrait of Anna Martoffin

Conrad Faber von Kreuznach's Portrait of Anna Martoffin contributes to his systematic documentation of Frankfurt's patrician women through companion portraits paired with their husbands. Female portraiture in early sixteenth-century Frankfurt served to document the physical appearance of women within the family memory while also asserting the family's prosperity through the rendering of costly jewelry and dress. Faber's female portraits show particular sensitivity to the sitters' individual characters, moving beyond mere documentation to suggest personalities and psychological presences appropriate to subjects whose civic roles, though less public than their husbands', were no less significant for family life.

The portrait follows established conventions of the period, with attention to physiognomic features and costume details that convey social identity and status.