Magdalena van Werdenburg

Jan (1438–1516), First Count of Egmond; Countess of Egmond (Magdalena van Werdenburg, 1464–1538)

Jan (1438–1516), First Count of Egmond; Countess of Egmond (Magdalena van Werdenburg, 1464–1538)

Artist:North Netherlandish Painter (after 1516)
Medium:Oil on canvas, transferred from wood (.122, the Count); oil on wood (.118, the Countess)
Dimensions:(.122, the Count): overall, with arched top, 16 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. (42.5 x 26 cm); original painted surface 16 1/4 x 9 5/8 in. (41.3 x 24.4 cm); (.118, the Countess) overall, with arched top and engaged frame original painted surface 19 1/4 x 12 1/2 in. (48.9 x 31.8 cm); painted surface 16 1/2 x 9 1/4 in. (41.9 x 24.8 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931

In 1484, the future count Jan van Egmond married Magdalena van Werdenburg, when he was forty-six and she was twenty years old. Evidently these portraits depict an older couple; rather than celebrating the marriage, they were probably painted upon Jan’s death. The wizened count wears his highest honor, a collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, while Magdalena is depicted as a widow, with a black band around her wedding ring. She holds a pink, a symbol of marriage, but unlike the one in a nearby painting (49.7.23), the flower is turned downward, as if to acknowledge Jan’s passing.

Provenance

baron Adolphe de Rothschild, Paris (until d. 1900); his heir, baron Maurice de Rothschild, Paris (1900–at least 1919); [Wildenstein, Paris]; [Kleinberger, New York, 1920]; Michael Friedsam, New York (1920–d. 1931)

Copyright Image
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