Portrait of Françoise van Diemen
by SCHALCKEN, Godfried, Oil on copper, 43 x 32 cm
The companion-piece of this portrait is the self-portrait of Godfried Schalken, the sitter’s husband. Schalken was trained by Gerrit Dou, and the two portraits follow Dou’s model. In these paintings the fashionable silks, brocades and Venetian lace are portrayed in meticulous detail. As the hand-on-heart gesture is associated with marriage vows, this double portrait was probably painted for the couple’s wedding in 1679.