Portrait of Feyntje van Steenkiste

The painting was commissioned as a pendant to the portrait of Feyntje van Steenkiste's husband, Lucas de Clercq, a Mennonite potash merchant from Haarlem. The couple became engaged on 8 January 1622. The work is dated 1635 based on the inscription “AETAT SVAE 31.

ANo 1635” and was painted nine years after their marriage. It remained in the De Clercq family for generations, passing through Lucas de Clercq, Gijsbert de Clercq, and Pieter de Clercq. In 1891, the De Clercq family gave the painting to the city of Amsterdam, and it has been on loan to the Rijksmuseum since that year, where it is now in the permanent collection.

The painting is held in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, with inventory number SK-C-189.

Its exhibition history began in 1891, when it was lent from the De Clercq family to the city of Amsterdam. It entered the Rijksmuseum’s collection in 1907, where it has been catalogued as number 1087. Since 1891 the work has been exhibited on loan, reflecting its continuous display within the museum’s holdings.

Painted around 1635 by Frans Hals, the Portrait of Feyntje van Steenkiste is recognized as a pendant to the portrait of her husband, Lucas de Clercq. Early scholarship by Hofstede de Groot in 1910 documented the work, noting its dimensions and the exceptional breadth of the hands. In 1974, Seymour Slive reaffirmed the pendant relationship while observing that Feyntje's headdress aligns with the styles worn by women in the 1630s.

The painting is situated within the Dutch Golden Age tradition, specifically depicting a Mennonite bride whose sober attire contrasts with Hals's more ornate wedding portraits through the absence of lace collars and jewelry. It resides in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, having been a gift from the De Clercq family to the city of Amsterdam in 1891.

Portrait of Feyntje van Steenkiste was painted around 1635 and has been part of the Rijksmuseum collection since 1891, when it was donated by the De Clercq family; the work is regarded as a pendant to the portrait of her husband Lucas de Clercq and is frequently cited in scholarly discussions of 1630s Mennonite portraiture in Haarlem, influencing later representations of bourgeois domestic subjects in Dutch art

The painting's composition, particularly its modest dress and intricate hand gestures, was noted by Hofstede de Groot in 1910 and later by Seymour Slive in 1974, who highlighted its role in shaping pendant portrait conventions and its subtle commentary on marital status within the Mennonite community, cementing its reputation as a key example of Frans Hals's late portraiture and securing its place in art‑historical narratives of the Dutch Golden Age

Frans Hals created this oil-on-canvas portrait of Feyntje van Steenkiste around 1635. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection in Amsterdam and is traditionally paired with a companion portrait of her husband, Lucas de Clercq, forming a marital pendant set.