Caterina van Hemessen

1528 – after 1565

Active in: The Netherlands
Alternate names: Catharina, Catherine, Katharina

Biography

Caterina van Hemessen was a painter active in the Southern Netherlands in the mid-sixteenth century. Her father was Jan Sanders van Hemessen, and she collaborated with him on religious commissions. While little documentation on Caterina’s life remains, she was considered a remarkable artist during her lifetime, as evidenced by her inclusion in writings by Italian writers such as Lodovico Guicciardini and Giorgio Vasari. Her Self-Portrait, now in Basel, is believed to be the oldest surviving example in Western art of a self-portrait that depicts the painter at work.

Selected Works

A young woman with light skin, medium brown hair underneath a gold-colored cap, and dark eyes stands with her hands crossed in front of her waist. She wears a black dress with white lower sleeves, a row of gold buttons down teh front, three large gold chains around her neck, and a large gold chain around her waist.

Caterina van Hemessen, Portrait of a Young Lady, ca. 1560. Oil on panel, 30.4 x 22.9 cm. Baltimore Museum of Art, 1951.397

A light-skinned man with light hair and a goatee and dark eyes stands with one hand on his waist, the other gripping the handle of a sword or walking-stick. He wears a black jacket with short cap sleeves and three diagonal slashes on each side of the chest, and a shiny white long-sleeved shirt underneath.

Caterina van Hemessen, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1552. Oil on oak panel, 36.2 x 29.2 cm. National Gallery, London

A light-skinned woman with dark eyes and reddish hair beneath a white cap stands with her hands held together in front of her waist. She wears an outfit of black and gray, with a high collar that reaches her chin. Around her neck, a reddish necklace or chain is knotted and reaches almost to her waist.

Caterina van Hemessen, Portrait of a Woman, Probably a Self-Portrait, 1548. Oil on panel, 23 x 15.2 cm. Rijksmuseum

A young woman with very light skin, large dark eyes, reddish-brown hair, and a serious expression sits at an easel with paintbrushes and palette in her hands. She wears a white cap over her hair and a black dress with red sleeves. She looks directly out at the viewer.

Caterina van Hemessen, Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1548. Oil on canvas, 32.2 x 25.2 cm. Kunstmuseum Basel

A large, carved wooden altarpiece with two doors swung open has thirteen small paintings inside. On the left door, a light-skinned nude man and nude woman stand in a garden, holding an apple between them. In the center, six images depict a group of light-skinned people kneeling over an infant child; a group of light-skinned people, mostly women, kneeling over the emaciated body of a brown-haired, light-skinned man, with a wooden cross in the background; a large central image of a light-skinned brown-haired man wearing only a loincloth suspended from a wooden cross by his hands and feet, with three women gathered at the bottom of the cross; an aged, light-skinned nude man with a bald head and gray beard kneeling on the ground with a blue cloth and red cloth, the man on the cross visible behind him; a light-skinned man with brown hair standing in a river with his hands clasped, while another man with similar features stands on the shore holding his hands over the man in the river's head; and a large group of people kneeling, raising their hands up, and looking toward the sky, where above their heads, a pair of feet is just visible in the air above them. Finally, on the right side door, a young boy with light skind and red hair kneels at the feet of an older man with light skin, a gray beard, and a red cap, who has his sword raised over his head to strike, while far above a golden-haired, light-skinned angel in white robes holds back the sword.

Caterina van Hemessen, Altarpiece with Scenes from the Old and New Testaments (the Tendila Retablo), 1550s. Oil on panel, 355 x 457.2 cm. Cincinnati Art Museum, 1953.219

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View artist timeline
Selected works

Circle

Daughter of
artist Jan Sanders van Hemessen

Bibliography

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