Portrait of a Young Woman

Today we start our special month with the collection of the Alte Nationalgalerie and Gemäldegalerie (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) in Berlin! And we start it with this beautiful portrait by Petrus Christus. His portraits are the first in Netherlandish painting to show the subject in concrete spatial surroundings, which adds a great deal to the immediacy of their appearance. Neither Robert Campin nor Jan van Eyck took the opportunity of presenting the subject in appropriate surroundings.

Petrus Christus was an apprentice of Jan van Eyck, whose workshop he assumed after his death. He combined the influences of his master with the styles of Rogier van der Weyden and Robert Campin. He drew religious paintings but excelled especially at portraits. They are characterized by their static soberness and their concentration on a few details. The background of the paintings is reduced but remains specific in its spatiality. 

It is widely regarded as one of the most exquisite portraits of the Northern Renaissance. She looks so modern and real!

Have a great Sunday!

P.S. Read more about Petrus Christus, a goldsmith in his shop here. <3