A Couple, Maarten van Heemskerck, 1529
oil on panel, h 86.6cm × w 66.2cm Catalogue entry
The woman is depicted as an industrious, virtuous housewife. The basket on the wall holds the yarn she has already spun. It has recently been suggested that the sitters are the Amsterdam draper Hubert Pietersz and his wife Trijn Jacobsdr, partly because the ledger on his table reads: ‘Betaelt Hubrecht [= Hubert] boucs.’ It is not clear why she occupies the side usually reserved for men. This important position was traditionally associated with purity and power.
