Portrait of Margaretha Banken

Maerten van Heemskerck 1498 - 1574

Summary

This is a portrait of Margaretha Banken (or van Banchem) (1476-1545), wife of Aert Witte van der Goes, who was a member of the House of Goes, a lawyer and pensionary of Delft 1508-25 and Grand Pensionary (State Attorney) of the States of Holland 1525-44. There is a pendant portrait of her husband, in a similar chair and setting, facing to his left at the Museum Prinsenhof, Delft (inv. no. B-3-10). Margaretha is seated on a fine carved chair, dressed in a black housecoat over a brown dress, her hair covered by a linen headdress. In her right hand she holds the end of a coral rosary that dangles from her waist along with a tiny purse and, in her left, a pair of gloves. On the wall to her right is a coat of arms that partially obscures a wooden panel carved with a lion's head, bow and trailing ribbon. The painting is inscribed with the sitter's age when she was painted, sixty-five. Van Heemskerck was a pupil of Cornelis Willemsz. in Haarlem and of Jan Lucas in Delft. Apart from a visit to Rome 1632-35, which left a pronounced influence on his work, he remained in Haarlem all his life. This is a copy of the original portrait.