Catharina van Hemessen (1527/28–after 1567), Antwerp, 1548, oil on panel
The self-assured Catharina van Hemessen signed and dated this portrait of an unknown woman. In large gilt letters, she inscribed in Latin ‘Catherina de Hemessen pinxit 1548,’ which translates as ‘Catharina van Hemessen painted this in 1548.’ Van Hemessen is the first Southern Netherlandish female painter by whom signed and dated works are known. This portrait is likely one of her earliest pieces.