An Elderly Couple

An elderly couple stare past each other – and us – in this astonishing study of old age. Although prosperously dressed, the pair seem disappointed: their mouths are turned resolutely down, their eyes dull and their jowls sagging. Although they overlap, each figure makes a self-contained triangle; their isolation is in vivid contrast to the classical lovers embracing in the cameo in the man’s hat.

The only indication of who they are is their clothing, which suggest a North Netherlandish origin and a date in the 1510s, although given their age they may not have dressed in the latest fashions. Unusually, the painting is on parchment, perhaps to make it easier to transport. It might not have been painted for the sitters, but for some distant friend or relative. They may never have seen the finished painting and never been aware of Gossart’s merciless observation of their agedness.

Text: © The National Gallery, London

Painting photographed in its frame by Google Arts & Culture, 2023.