Portrait of a Woman with a Winged Bonnet

This may be the earliest surviving portrait by Rogier van der Weyden, and is probably also his liveliest, due to the woman’s open look, directed straight at the viewer, and the intelligent, almost challenging expression in her face. Her hands and the details of her clothing have been painted with intense precision. These details, and equally the composition, reveal the inspiration of Jan van Eyck, which was very marked in the art of Rogier in the period around 1440. The identity of the young woman is unknown. Her bonnet shows her to be a married woman; the superior but not luxurious clothing indicates a woman from the middle class, who may have lived in Brussels.