Portrait of Lysbeth van Duvenvoirde

anonymous

c. 1430

oil on parchment mounted on plexiglass

Rijksmuseum

A woman in a red gown and elaborate headdress stands against a dark background, holding a scroll with text. A diamond-shaped coat of arms is in the upper left corner. ‘Long have I yearned for the man who would open his heart.’ With these words, inscribed in Middle Dutch on the S-shaped banderole, Lysbeth van Duvenvoirde expressed her feelings for her husband. She was from a noble Dutch family and married the knight Simon van Adrichem in 1430. In this portrait she is wearing her wedding jewellery: a necklace, five rings, and a belt with little bells.