A Young Woman Warming her Hands over a Brazier: Allegory of Winter

Caesar van Everdingen (signed by artist), c. 1650

The young woman warms her hands above a dish of glowing coals. She personifies Winter. This season was usually represented as a shabbily dressed old man or woman: old because the year is coming to an end, and poor because crops do not grow in the winter. Van Everdingen's choice of a young, richly attired woman is thus rather unusual.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-A-4878
  • Dimensionssupport: height 97 cm x width 81.5 cm, outer size: depth 8 cm
  • Physical characteristicsoil on canvas

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • A Young Woman Warming her Hands over a Brazier: Allegory of Winter
    • A Young Woman Warming her Hands over a Brazier, Allegory of Winter

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-A-4878

  • Description

    Een jonge vrouw haar handen warmend boven gloeiende kolen in een aardewerken vuurtest. Waarschijnlijk een allegorie op het seizoen Winter. De vrouw draagt een witte muts, oorbellen en een parelsnoer.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    signature, with ligated monogram, bottom centre: ‘cVE’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    painter: Caesar van Everdingen (signed by artist)

  • Dating

    c. 1650

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    • support: height 97 cm x width 81.5 cm
    • outer size: depth 8 cm

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, with additional funding from the Prins Bernhard Fonds

  • Acquisition

    purchase 1991-11-25

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    ? Probate inventory, Caesar van Everdingen, Alkmaar, after 13 October 1678 (‘Een winter 18-0-0’);{P. Huys Janssen, _Caesar van Everdingen 1616/17-1678: Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné_, Doornspijk 2002, pp. 180-81.} ? the family of the artist’s brother, Allaert van Everdingen;{P. Huys Janssen, _Caesar van Everdingen 1616/17-1678: Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné_, Doornspijk 2002, p. 180.}…; ? sale, Johannes Enschedé (1708-1780, Haarlem), Haarlem (T. Jelgersma and V. van der Vinne), 30 May 1786 _sqq._, no. 20 (‘Een Vrouw met een schoudermantel om, houdende de handen onder haar boesel over een test met vuur; ongemeen konstig geschilderd door .... hoog 37 duim. breet 33 duim [92.8 x 82.8 cm].’), fl. 11, to Rouaan;{Copy RMA.}…; collection H.R. van Maasdijk, The Hague, 1932;{A. Blankert, ‘Vrouw “Winter” door Caesar van Everdingen’, _Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum_ 39 (1991), pp. 505-23, esp. p. 521, note 6.}…; private collection, The Hague, 1940;{V. Bloch, ‘Haarlemer Klassizisten’, _Oud Holland_ 57 (1940), pp. 14-21, esp. p. 20.}…; private collection;{A. Blankert, ‘Vrouw “Winter” door Caesar van Everdingen’, _Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum_ 39 (1991), pp. 505-23, esp. p. 507.}…; anonymous sale, The Hague (Glerum), 25 November 1991, no. 123, fl. 753,350, to the dealer R. Noortman, for the museum, with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt

  • Remarks

    Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

Documentation

  • Sara van Dijk, Stof, stijl en status, uit: Kunstschrift, 60, 2016, 4, pagina 40-45 - p. 41, afb. 46

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