Portrait of a young woman or Sibylla Sambetha, 1480

Detail uit het portret van een jonge vrouw of Sibylla Sambetha van Hans Memling, 1480. In het detail is de jonge vrouw ten hoofde afbeeld in 7/8 profiel naar links.

Hans Memling
Museum Sint-Janshospitaal,
Musea Brugge (Belgium)
O.SJ0174.I

This portrait shows a young woman, in 7/8 profile to the left. That she comes from well-to-do circles is evident from her attire, hairstyle and jewellery. Her hands lie on top of each other, the fingertips of the right hand rest on the frame. This detail creates a trompe l’oeil effect, a clever trick to deceive the eye that makes something look lifelike. The work features a cartouche and banderole with inscriptions. They were painted later, probably in the 16th century. The portrait is dated at the top of the frame: 1480.

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DETAILS

Identification

Title	Portrait of a young woman or Sibylla Sambetha
Location	Museum Sint-Janshospitaal, Musea Brugge, Bruges (Belgium)
Category	Paintings
Subject	Portraits
Inventory number	O.SJ0174.I
Inscriptions	1480 (top)
	SIBYLLA SAMBETHA QUAE/ E T PERSICA, AN: :ANTE/ CHRIST: NAT:ZO40. (cartouche)
	ECCE BESTIA CONCVLCABERIS, GIGNETVR DNS IN ORBEM TERRARVM/ ET GREMIV VIRGINIS ERIT SALVS GENTIVM, INVISIBILE VERBV PALPABITVR (bottom)

Production

Creator	Hans Memling
Date	1480

Materials and Technique

Materials	Oil paint, oak
Technique	Oil on panel
Dimensions	With (original) frame: height 46.5 x width 35.2 cm
	Painted surface: height 38.1 x width 26.5 cm

Linked open data

Permalink
IIIF manifest	https://dam.museabrugge.be/memling/manifests/manifest-12.json
Copyright	Musea Brugge is committed to making data available as usable open data. Images of artworks that are not subject to copyright restrictions are published for this purpose under the Creative Commons Zero license. These may be freely used.

Credits

The images were taken by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA, Brussels) on behalf of Musea Brugge.

The stitching of the images is thanks to VUB spinoff Universum Digitalis BV.