| Catharina Both-van der Eem | |
|---|---|
 Catharina Both van der Eem, c. 1620, Oil on canvas, 137 x 100 cm | |
| Artist | Frans Hals |
| Year | 1620 (1620) |
| Catalogue | Hofstede de Groot,Catalog 1910: #155 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 137 cm × 100 cm (54 in × 39 in) |
| Location | Louvre Museum,Paris |
| Accession | RF 425 |
Catharina Both van der Eem is a painting by theDutch Golden Age painterFrans Hals, painted in 1620 and now inLouvre Museum. It is considered a pendant portrait to thePortrait ofPaulus van Beresteyn, in the same museum.
Similar to Hals'Portrait of a Woman Standing inChatsworth House, this woman is wearing a wedding ring on her right forefinger, a figure-eight collar and lace wrist collars with gold bracelets. Her bodice is a richly embroidered Dutch weddingstomacher, and a heavy gold chain draped through a vlieger, rests on a wheel-shapedfardegalijn. Her diadem cap lacks wings and is more similar to the cap worn by Hals's unknown sitterPortrait of a Woman Standing (Kassel) and by his brewerAletta Hannemans. Her portrait was documented byHofstede de Groot in 1910, who wrote:
155. CATHARINA BOTH VAN DER EEM, wife of Paulus Beresteyn. B. 10; M. 16. Three-quarter-length, life size. She is turned three-quarters left. She wears a lace cap, and a ruff trimmed with lace. She has a black dress with lace insertion in front and lace wristbands. Her left hand grasps her dress; her right rests on the back of a chair. In the left-hand top corner is her coat of arms. [Pendant to 154.] Inscribed, "AETA. SVAE 40 1629."; canvas, 54 inches by 40 inches. Purchased from theHofje van Beresteyn, Haarlem, 1884, for the Louvre (100,000 francs, with 154 and theBeresteyn family group). In the Louvre, Paris, 1902 catalogue, No. 2387.[1]
Hofstede de Groot identified it as a pendant to
154. PAULUS VAN BERESTEYN (June 15, 1588-December 27, 1636). B. 9; M. 15. Three-quarters length, life size. He is in profile to the right, but the head is seen in a three-quarter view. He wears a black flowered costume, with a white lace collar like a ruff and lace wristbands. He presses his right hand to his side and leans his left
hand, which holds his hat, on a table. In the right-hand top corner are
the family arms. [Pendant to 155.] The first numeral in the age has been altered in the inscription below to 4, and the last numeral in the date to 9. It would be better to read 30 and 1620. The style of painting, which is similar to that of the earliest groups of marksmen at Haarlem (431-3), makes the date 1620 probable. Inscribed, "AETAT. SVAE. 40. 1629."; canvas, 54 inches by 40 inches. SeeMoes, Iconographia Bafava, No. 519, 2. Purchased from the Hofje van Beresteyn, Haarlem, 1884, for the Louvre (100,000 francs, with 155 and the Beresteyn family group). In the Louvre, Paris, 1902 catalogue, No. 2386.[2]
In 1974Seymour Slive listed both paintings as pendants of each other and confirmed the Hals attribution, which had been called into question in 1970.[3] Slive agreed with the traditional date of 1629 but felt that it could have been painted soon after the couple's marriage in 1619 as documented by E.A. van Beresteyn. He agreed withNuma S. Trivas that it was painted by Hals and not as some claimed, byPieter Soutman. In 1989Claus Grimm agreed with both earlier conclusions about the portrait of Paulus, but felt that Catharina's portrait was painted by Soutman.[4]
