Artwork
Young Woman with a Pink
Young Woman with a Pink is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Hans Memling. It dates from 1494 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The half-length figure is presented against a plain ground, focusing attention on the sitter and the carnation she holds.
Hans Memling's panel of 1494, in the Early Netherlandish tradition, depicts a young woman holding a pink (carnation). The flower is a conventional emblem of betrothal and fidelity in fifteenth-century Northern European portraiture, lending the otherwise straightforward likeness a symbolic dimension. The half-length figure is presented against a plain ground, focusing attention on the sitter and the carnation she holds.
Technique & Style
The work is a small panel painting executed on a wooden support, typical of Early Netherlandish practice. Memling applied oil pigments to the wood in thin, luminous layers, rendering the sitter's garment with subtle gradations of tone and defining the delicate facial features with fine brushwork. The panel measures approximately 43.2 by 17.5 centimeters and is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
The panel titled Young Woman with a Pink was executed by Hans Memling in 1494. It is painted in oil on wood and measures 43.2 × 17.5 cm. The painting passed through several collections, associated with Wilhelm von Bode and Heinrich Vieweg, and later owned by Jules Bache, before entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains.
Context
Young Woman with a Pink (1494), an oil painting on wood panel by Hans Memling, exemplifies Early Netherlandish portraiture. The sitter holds a pink (carnation), a flower carrying symbolic associations of betrothal and fidelity. Held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the Jules Bache collection, the panel is studied as an example of Memling's small-scale portraiture and the broader achievement of fifteenth-century Northern European painting.
Overview
This painting, titled Young Woman with a Pink, is executed on wood. It depicts a woman in a composed stance, holding a vibrant pink flower. Her figure is set against a dark interior, contrasted by a glimpse of a natural landscape through a window. The artwork captures a serene moment, highlighting the subject's attire and the delicate bloom she presents.
Artist & collection
Artist
Hans Memling was a German-Flemish painter who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting.
![Saint Veronica [obverse], by Hans Memling](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/hans-memling--saint-veronica-obverse--5a649fd8b09c96b9-w320.webp)
