Full View of Portrait of a Lady

Portrait of a Lady, by Master A.W. (16th century), 1536
Oil on panel, Height: 77.1 cm; Width: 60.5 cm

This image appears to be Netherlandish, not English in origin, although it resides currently in England.

"The gradual widening of the neckline seems to have been counteracted almost at once by the introduction of small shoulder-capes (known as partlets in England), which are common in portraits of Netherlandish women from c. 1520 onwards; they are not found in English portraits until about 1550 (e.g. Master A.W.’s Portrait of a Lady, 1536; U. London, Courtauld Inst.). Netherlandish women are also much more likely to be portrayed with smocked shirts filling in most of the square neckline, as in Joos van Cleve’s triptych of the Deposition (c. 1518; Edinburgh, N.G.)."

Image from Art & Architecture, Portrait of a Lady [Art] Retrieved August 7, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/images/gallery/90c0c4fc.html

Quote from Margaret Scott: "Dress, §V, 2: Northern Europe: 14th–16th centuries" Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, [March 1, 2007], http://www.groveart.com/shared/views/article.html?section=art.023637.5.2.3&authstatuscode=200