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Portrait of Machtelt Suijs

Maarten van Heemskerckc. 1540–45

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

Maerten van Heemskerck lived in Rome for four years (1532–36) and was deeply affected by the city's art and antiquities. Here, the half-length, seated figure, the tense yet elegant hands, and even the grotesque classical mask reflect the impact of that experience, while the love of meticulously represented textures is traditionally associated with northern European art. Machtelt Suijs married Dirick van Teijlingen in 1535 and lived in Alkmaar (the Netherlands), where Heemskerck must have painted her. The coat-of-arms that hangs from the mask combines family emblems, indicating that her portrait must have been accompanied by one (now lost) of her husband.

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  • Title: Portrait of Machtelt Suijs
  • Creator: Maerten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498–1574)
  • Date Created: c. 1540–45
  • Physical Dimensions: Framed: 107 x 97 x 8 cm (42 1/8 x 38 3/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 85 x 74 cm (33 7/16 x 29 1/8 in.)
  • Provenance: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, (Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, and Bruno Meissner, Zurich, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), (Nouveau Drouot, Paris, sale, March 17, 1987, no. 147, sold to Thomas Agnew and Bruno Meissner), Private collection, Tournai (?), Belgium, Dirick [1512-1578] and Machtelt van Teijlingen [d. after 1581], Alkmaar, Holland
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1987.136
  • Medium: oil on wood
  • Inscriptions: note on cradle appears on a notation in chalk (originally) slightly scratched faintly letters " Mr A.M.C [?] or K [?] Reyve"
  • Fun Fact: The coat of arms depicts golden pile drivers, indicating the family construction business.
  • Department: European Painting and Sculpture
  • Culture: Flanders
  • Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
  • Collection: P - Netherlandish-Flemish
  • Accession Number: 1987.136
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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