Portrait of Margaretha de Geer, Wife of Jacob Trip

This is one of a pair of portraits of a husband and wife, one of the richest couples in the Netherlands. Margaretha de Geer had been married to Jacob Trip for nearly 60 years, and the two portraits, both in the National Gallery, were made to hang together, almost certainly in one of the grand reception rooms of a palatial new residence – the Trippenhuis – which was being built in Amsterdam for their two sons.

Rembrandt has created a fascinating contrast between the couple. Not only are their poses asymmetrical – Margaretha meets our gaze head on, Jacob sits askew, his mind apparently elsewhere – but he used different painting techniques. Jacob is rendered using swift, economical brushwork, while Margaretha’s skin and ruff are worked with great intensity and attention to detail.

Jacob died in 1661, around the time the painting was made. Perhaps Rembrandt was deliberately contrasting the fading presence of a dying man with the vibrant energy of his wife, who still had another ten years to live.

Text: © The National Gallery, London

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