Portrait of Magdalena de Cuyper  1635

This elderly woman is the mother of Rogier Le Witer (adjacent). She wears a black widow’s cap and a somewhat old-fashioned cloak. In her hands she holds a handkerchief and a prayerbook, the latter symbolizing her piety. The tulip alludes to the tran-sience of earthly existence. This portrait belongs with the two likenesses hanging next to it. That this series is still inta...