Portret van een vrouw met rozenkrans en een familiewapen Possibly 1751 - 1753

Aert Schouman rendered this portrait of a woman with a rosary and family crest using pen in gray and black ink on paper sometime in the 18th century. The stark presentation and muted colors suggest this woman’s membership in a strict religious order, though the diamond ring on her finger implies she hasn’t completely removed herself from worldly pleasures. To understand this portrait, we can consider the relationship between Dutch religious life and portraiture traditions. The rosary beads tell us this is most likely a Catholic woman in a historically Protestant country. As such, did Schouman intend to critique or celebrate her religious devotion? The family crest hanging in the upper left corner suggests she is a member of the upper class, but is she an outlier, or representative of the shifting class and religious demographics in the Netherlands at this time? To learn more, one might look to local parish records, genealogical databases, and historical surveys of religious life in the Netherlands to understand this woman’s position in society.