Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the most significant artists of the Dutch Golden Age, created a repertoire of self-portraits and commissioned portraits, such as this Portrait of a Young Woman, that depict a vivid record of contemporary life in Amsterdam. His paintings reflect an acutely observant, sympathetic, and personal manner of representation that had not been previously practiced in portraiture. It was precisely this more intimate style of portraiture—with its compassion for the human subject, irrespective of the individual’s wealth and age or Rembrandt’s personal connection to the subject—that gave rise to Rembrandt’s success in Amsterdam as the most fashionable portraitist of the day.
The identity of this young woman is subject to debate by art historians. Some early scholars thought she might be Machteld van Doorn, who was married to the successful ship Captain, Maerten Pietersz. It has been more widely suggested that she is Oepjen Coppit, a young bride from a prominent Amsterdam family, based on the close examination of her facial features, costume, and jewelry in another known painting of Oepjen Coppit during the same time period. However, there is no way of knowing if this comparison is accurate, and the true identification of the subject is still unknown. Whoever she is, the young woman in this portrait is portrayed in fashionable attire with a large, double-layered lace collar, ribbon and rosette around her waist, pearls at her throat, lace cap, and elegant drop earrings. Her long oval face, red hair, wide set eyes, and arched eyebrows are enhanced by a radiant complexion. The attention to detail and richness of her attire—from the intricate lace of her collar, the sheen of the ribbon and rosette, and the pearly gleam of her necklace and earrings—further expresses the sitter’s social status.
The sparse composition of the sitter against a stark background lends an intimate feel to the portrait. Rembrandt’s ability to portray his subjects in a personal manner and capture the mood and character of each sitter is complimented by his skilled brushstroke and keen eye for precision. Applying paint in layers, he added the highlights last and painted from dark to light—a technique that imbued his subjects with an inner luminosity. His heavy use of impasto (thickly-applied paint) adds texture to the painting’s surface, giving a feeling of immediacy and spontaneity, which contradicts this careful execution. The restricted palette—dominated by shades of red, black, and white, in addition to the sharp contrasts of light and shade (chiaroscuro) —heightens the sense of intensity and drama. Rembrandt’s use of a dark background against the lit figure also provides a subtle interplay of warm and cool tones that brings his sitter to life.
With the source of the light hidden from the composition, the young woman’s luminous complexion appears to radiate from within, rather than from an external source. Her soft round face, silky hair, red lips, and faintly rosy cheeks, produce an air of innocence and vulnerability. These delicate physical characteristics are in sharp opposition to her tightly tucked waist and the harsh lines of her stiff collar. This opposition of appearance and the stark interplay between light and shadow produces a rich study of contrasts.
