Portrait of a Young Woman

Based in Amsterdam, Santvoort painted portraits that painstakingly document his sitters illuminated against a dark background. Pictured here is a young woman wearing a high-waist gown in black silk with a bobbinlaced partlet (a decorative garment that covers the neck and upper chest), which is layered under a matching kerchief, a square fabric folded diagonally and worn around the shoulders. The scallop pattern of these fabrics is echoed in the edges of the coif and cuffs. The sitter’s ribbons and stomacher, woven with silver and gold threads and glistening with light, underscore her wealth. Along with the folding fan and pearl necklace and earrings, these sartorial elements were highly fashionable from the mid-1630s into the 1640s.