Portrait of Margaretha de Veer (?-1688)

Portrait of Margaretha de Veer from 1653 by Cuyp demonstrates his occasional practice in portraiture alongside his principal activity as a landscape painter. Cuyp was a prosperous citizen of Dordrecht who married into a prominent family, and portrait commissions formed part of his social connections. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays warm amber-golden tonality derived from Jan Both's Italianate landscapes, serene cattle and horse subjects bathed in afternoon light, the Rhine at Dordrecht seen through a Mediterranean filter.

The formal portrait is rendered with solid, competent technique, the sitter's features characterized with the careful observation Cuyp brought to all his subjects.