Portrait of Elizabeth Spiegel (1639): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Elizabeth Spiegel (1639) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Dirck Dircksz. Santvoort (Dutch, 1610/11–1680).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This painting belongs to a series of portraits representing the five senses and each depicting a daughter of a wealthy family from Amsterdam. This portrait of 11-year-old Elizabeth Spiegel, who holds a recorder in her hands, represents the sense of hearing. Her gown of costly satin and pearl ornaments proclaims her family's prosperity, and the imported ostrich feathers from Africa indicate Amsterdam's role as an international trade center.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Elizabeth Spiegel
• Date: 1639
• Creator attribution: Dirck Dircksz. Santvoort (Dutch, 1610/11–1680)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on wood
• Dimensions: Framed: 80.6 x 68.3 x 3.9 cm (31 3/4 x 26 7/8 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 62.7 x 49.5 cm (24 11/16 x 19 1/2 in.)
• Collection: P - Netherlandish-Dutch
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1975.81

A detail from the museum

Amsterdam was a very important trade center when this portrait was painted in the mid-1600s. In this portrait, the girl wears an African ostrich feather in her hair and her skin appears to glow. Look closely at the way her small hands were treated and the naturalistic way they grip the musical instrument.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Christina Eberli, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 10, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
• Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Paintings and Drawings. Nov. 3, 1972.
• Christina Eberli, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 10, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.