A Young Woman as a Shepherdess

Govert Flinck

Date unknown · Oil on canvas, transferred from wood · European Paintings

Like many of Rembrandt’s other pupils, Govert Flinck emulated his teacher’s depiction of models in fancy dress that evoked the world of the theater or classical antiquity. Here, a young woman wears the floral garland, veil, and crook of an idealized shepherdess. Flinck’s personal style comes across in the shimmering fabrics, detailed flowers, and narrowly sloping shoulders. By the eighteenth century, however, a false Rembrandt signature had been added to the painting, indicating the ease with which works by his students later circulated on the art market as Rembrandt’s own, generating mistaken attributions that often persisted into the late twentieth century.

Artist

Govert Flinck

Date

Date unknown

Medium

Oil on canvas, transferred from wood

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Bequest of Lillian S. Timken, 1959