Portrait of a young Woman

Albrecht Altdorfer painted this Portrait of a Young Woman around 1522, one of his rare portraits. Known primarily for his revolutionary landscape painting and dramatic religious compositions, Altdorfer's portraits reveal a more intimate, observational side of his art Portraiture flourished during the Renaissance as humanism elevated the individual, with wealthy merchants, rulers, and churchmen commissioning likenesses as symbols of status, piety, and dynastic continuity.

The portrait shows Altdorfer's characteristically warm palette and atmospheric approach applied to portraiture, with a freshness of observation unusual in his primarily narrative oeuvre.