Portrait d'une dame

Bernhard Strigel's Portrait of a Lady (Portrait d'une dame) belongs to his extensive production of female companion portraits alongside his better-known male sitters. Female portraiture in early sixteenth-century Swabia and the Habsburg territories served similar documentation functions to male portraiture while also asserting the family's prosperity through the careful rendering of jewelry and dress. Strigel's female portraits show particular attention to the headdresses and jewelry fashionable in the Habsburg court culture, providing invaluable documentation of early modern aristocratic dress alongside the psychological characterization that distinguishes his finest works.

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