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A Young Woman as a Shepherdess

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 616
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Young Woman as a Shepherdess
  • Artist: Govert Flinck (Dutch, Cleve 1615–1660 Amsterdam)
  • Medium: Oil on canvas, transferred from wood
  • Dimensions: Oval, 26 1/4 x 19 7/8 in. (66.7 x 50.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Lillian S. Timken, 1959
  • Object Number: 60.71.15
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Reclining Female Nude, Govert Flinck Dutch, Black chalk, heightened with white, on blue paper
Reclining Female Nude
Govert Flinck
mid-17th century
A Woman Asleep (recto); Landscape Composition with Well-Sweep (verso), Govert Flinck Dutch, Black chalk
A Woman Asleep (recto); Landscape Composition with Well-Sweep (verso)
Govert Flinck
1633–36
Holy Family in the Stable, Govert Flinck Dutch, Pen and brown ink over red chalk, with red wash and traces of white heightening; traces of framing line in pen and black ink
Holy Family in the Stable
Govert Flinck
mid-17th century
Bearded Man with a Velvet Cap, Govert Flinck Dutch, Oil on wood
Bearded Man with a Velvet Cap
Govert Flinck
1645
Merry Company on a Terrace, Jan Steen Dutch, Oil on canvas
Merry Company on a Terrace
Jan Steen
ca. 1670

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