Portrait of Margaretha Völker, née Holzhausen 1588

This is a portrait of Margaretha Völker, née Holzhausen, painted in 1595 by an anonymous artist. The subject, a wealthy woman from Frankfurt, is adorned in the finery of her time, including gold chains and multiple rings, all captured with exquisite detail. Given the absence of a known artist, it’s worth asking what purpose this portrait served. Was it commissioned to affirm the sitter’s social standing within her community? The costly materials certainly speak to her family’s economic power. Perhaps it was intended to solidify a marriage alliance or commemorate a significant life event. These images were key to marking status. The institutional history of portraiture at this time can also give us some clues. Portraits of this kind were not typically displayed in public galleries or museums but kept within the private sphere of the home, underscoring the deeply personal and familial nature of their significance. To fully understand this painting, we might consult genealogical records, historical inventories, and studies of dress and fashion of the period. The meaning of such an image is always shaped by the social and institutional contexts in which it was created and viewed.