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Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan by Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn · c. 1656/1658

View the artwork: Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan →

This is Rembrandt's 'Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan', painted around 1658 and now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. The sitter is believed to be Margrieta Wijnants, a prosperous woman whose expensive fan and starched linen collar announced her place in Dutch society.

Watch how Rembrandt shifts gears inside a single canvas. Her face, and especially her eyes, are painted with a slow, precise attention that records the glassy wetness of each iris. The ostrich feathers in her hand are the opposite: three or four loose, dry strokes that read as soft plumes from a step back but dissolve into abstract gestures up close.

This was the great economy of late Rembrandt. He understood that the human eye seeks the face first and stays there, so he concentrated his labor on the psychological encounter and let the accessories breathe with a shorthand confidence that a lesser painter would never risk.

What do you notice first when you look at this portrait, her steady eyes, or the loose white feathers in her hand?

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Details

Her steady frontal gaze creates an intimate psychological encounter , the portrait's entire emotional weight concentrates here, uncommon directness for a 17th-century female sitter.
Her steady frontal gaze creates an intimate psychological encounter , the portrait's entire emotional weight concentrates here, uncommon directness for a 17th-century female sitter.
This wide flat collar radiates light and frames the face; Rembrandt's loose, confident brushwork here contrasts sharply with the tightly observed face above it , two speeds of paint in one canvas.
This wide flat collar radiates light and frames the face; Rembrandt's loose, confident brushwork here contrasts sharply with the tightly observed face above it , two speeds of paint in one canvas.
Rembrandt captures a glassy wetness in the irises; she looks composed but watchful , a detail that rewards close inspection and anchors the viewer's attention.
Rembrandt captures a glassy wetness in the irises; she looks composed but watchful , a detail that rewards close inspection and anchors the viewer's attention.
The titular luxury object: ostrich feathers were costly imports from North Africa. Rembrandt renders them in loose, gestural strokes that make feather texture legible without literalism.
The titular luxury object: ostrich feathers were costly imports from North Africa. Rembrandt renders them in loose, gestural strokes that make feather texture legible without literalism.
Among the most carefully observed passages in the work , fingers softly lit, knuckles summarised economically, the grip conveying quiet propriety rather than display.
Among the most carefully observed passages in the work , fingers softly lit, knuckles summarised economically, the grip conveying quiet propriety rather than display.
Transcript

She meets your eyes with a gaze 350 years old. Rembrandt slowed down here. A glassy wetness in the irises, each eyelash a considered touch. Now look at the fan. Three strokes of a dry brush and the feather is finished. He knew the eye would always return to her face.