Portrait of Anna Cornelia Giltay (1826-1887)

Jan Veth's 1902 portrait of Anna Cornelia Giltay is unusual in depicting a sitter who had died fifteen years before the painting was made — she died in 1887, and the portrait was painted in 1902. This suggests the work was based on an earlier photograph, drawing, or preliminary work rather than a live sitting, and was likely commissioned as a memorial or family record. Posthumous portraits from photographs were not uncommon in the early twentieth century, and Veth would have brought his considerable technical skills to bear on producing a likeness from a secondary source. The Dordrechts Museum holds this memorial portrait.

Working from a secondary source rather than a live sitter, Veth's handling shows some of the constraints of posthumous portraiture — the face has a slightly less immediate quality than his best direct observation portraits. Nevertheless his technical facility maintains a convincing sense of individual character. The palette and composition follow his established portrait conventions.