Portrait of Aegje Hasselaer

About this artwork

signatuur, datum en inscriptie, rechtsmidden: ‘Ætatis. 22. / A.º 1640. / M. Miereveld.’

Art Historical Context

This striking portrait by Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt captures Aegje Hasselaer at the age of twenty-two, as noted in the elegant Latin inscription on the right “Ætatis 22, A° 1640, M. Miereveld.” Painted in oil on a wooden panel, the work exemplifies the refined portrait tradition of the Dutch Golden Age. Mierevelt, a leading court painter based in Delft, was celebrated for his precise brushwork and ability to convey the quiet dignity of his sitters, many of whom belonged to the prosperous merchant and regent classes of the young Dutch Republic. The medium of oil on panel allowed Mierevelt to...

About the Artist

Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt · 1567–1641

Son of the goldsmith Jan Michielsen van Miereveldt and a pupil (when he was 12 years old) of Antonio Blocklandt (known as Montfort) in Utrecht and later of Willem Willemsz. It is very difficult to distinguish his work from the innumerable copies of his paintings that he allowed to be made, even sometimes signing them with his own name. Basically a portrait painter, he also painted historical and ...