The Digitalisation Project Castle Huis Bergh is the intellectual property of the Stichting Musick’s Monument. Ing Hans Meijer was responsible for the technical realisation; Dr Willem Kuiper for the scholarly input. Thanks are also due to the Anjer Cultuurfonds Gelderland; the Stichting de Verenigde Stichtingen “De Armenkorf” in Terborg and “Het Gasthuis te Silvolde”; Mrs P. Tijdink-Hermsen; Mrs L.J.C. Meijer-Kroonder; and the Giese family.
Panel
Bruyn the Younger, Barthel (after 1550-before 1610) Portrait of a
woman 1564 On the coat of arms the inscription: AETATIS 65-AW.
Attribution by Dr. M.J. Friedlander, 1924.
Most medieval art had a religious function, and therefore religious
subject matter. However, this is not to say that medieval painters and sculptors had no eye for worldly things: we need only look at the birds, beasts and strange, unidentifiable creatures that inhabit the great gothic cathedrals to feel the artist’s joy at creating both from nature and from imagination. The Renaissance, however, had brought in its wake a vivid interest in the here-and-now, in earthly life and the individual on a far greater scale. In the art world, this resulted a huge number of orders for one-man or one-woman portraits. Whereas in medieval times only noblemen and clergymen had the kind of money at their disposal to have their portraits painted, the renaissance saw the rise of a new class, the burghers, that was able to afford a few luxuries. These burghers were merchants or bankers, typically self-made men who worked hard and earned highly. While they were not as rich as noblemen, they were certainly wealthier than farmers. The belt and the rings worn by the woman portrayed here by Barthel Bruyn the Younger may be indicative of a wealthy background. She wears a typically sixteenth-century cap. Despite the inclusion of a family coat of arms in the picture, the woman remains unidentified. The letters above the coat of arms spell: ’aetatis 65’, which means ’65 years of age’
