Young Woman with White Gloves
- Catalog
- WD-Q09
- Artist
- Willem Drost
- Year
- c. 1654
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Unknown
- Location
- Present location unknown
Description
A portrait of a young woman wearing white gloves, continuing Drost's series of elegant female portraits including Young Woman in a Brocade Gown (WD-014) and Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace (WD-015).
Analysis
Listed by PubHist among Drost's attributed paintings, this portrait of a young woman in white gloves would belong to Drost's middle period, around the same time as his other female portraits. The white gloves were a fashionable accessory in mid-17th-century Dutch portraiture. Its current location is unknown and the attribution requires scholarly verification.
Historical Context
The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654) raged during this period, with naval battles at Portland, the Gabbard, and Scheveningen where Admiral Maarten Tromp was killed. The Delft Thunderclap of 1654 devastated the city and killed Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s most gifted former pupil. Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated and converted to Catholicism in Rome. Blaise Pascal experienced his conversion to Jansenism. Drost worked independently in Amsterdam, competing in a vibrant art market while Rembrandt began his descent into bankruptcy.