Description
Portrait of Agatha Bas is Rembrandt’s portrait of 1641: a young Amsterdam townswoman in a black dress with rich lace, pearls and a gold-embroidered bodice stands in a painted frame, touching it with one hand and holding a fan in the other. The original, oil on canvas, is 105.4 cm high and 83.9 cm wide and belongs to the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace in London. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas in 8 portrait sizes, from 40 x 49 to 102 x 125 cm, or to your own measurement, and show it to you in a photograph before dispatch.
| Title: | Portrait of Agatha Bas |
| Other titles: | Agatha Bas (1611–1658) · Agatha Bas |
| Painter: | Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) |
| Year painted: | 1641, Amsterdam |
| Original size: | 105.4 cm x 83.9 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace, London (RCIN 405352) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Portrait of Agatha Bas – Rembrandt
What does the Portrait of Agatha Bas show?
Agatha Bas looks straight at us. She wears a black velvet dress with a broad white lace collar and lace cuffs, a string of pearls round her neck, a small cap on her head and a gold-embroidered bodice in front.
She stands in a painted dark frame, as if stepping out of the picture: her left hand rests on its edge, and in her right she holds a fan that juts out towards us. According to Italian Wikipedia the pose is unusual for its time.
Who was Agatha Bas?
Agatha Bas (1611–1658) was the wife of the wealthy wool merchant Nicolaes van Bambeeck. The Royal Collection records that the portrait was painted three years after their marriage.
The couple lived on the Sint Anthoniesbreestraat in Amsterdam, where Rembrandt also lived from 1631, so the painter almost certainly knew them. The inscription on the painting, Wikipedia says, gives her age as 29.
Where is the companion portrait?
The portrait of her husband Nicolaes van Bambeeck is in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels. Both paintings are signed and dated 1641.
According to Italian Wikipedia the two portraits went their separate ways in 1814: Agatha to London, Nicolaes to Brussels, where he still is.
Where is the original today?
In the British Royal Collection, RCIN 405352, at Buckingham Palace in London. The Royal Collection calls it one of the most beautiful portraits in the collection.
The painting is signed and dated Rembrandt f 1641, with the inscription AE 29, meaning aged 29.
Agatha Bas or another Rembrandt?
Portrait of Agatha Bas suits a dining room, a drawing room or a hallway, for anyone who loves elegant portraits and fabrics. Her male companion is the Portrait of Jan Six, another wealthy Amsterdam burgher, and a married couple appears in The Jewish Bride.
For a gentle female profile there is Flora, and for a group of Amsterdam burghers Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild. More portraits and famous Rembrandt paintings are on the Rembrandt page.
How does our painter paint your Agatha Bas?
This Rembrandt reproduction begins with the face; then in oil on canvas the painter builds up the lace, the most demanding part: every hole and edge must be light yet exact.
Next come the pearls, the embroidery on the bodice and the fan, and last the painted frame with its shadow, which gives the impression that Agatha is stepping towards us. An oil painting reproduction like this has a depth of lace that a paper print lacks.
Which size is right for your room?
In short: 40 x 49 or 46 x 55 cm for a narrow wall or a shelf, 50 x 64 or 58 x 70 cm above a chest of drawers, 64 x 80 and 81 x 100 cm for the living room, and 89 x 114 and 102 x 125 cm for a large wall or a drawing room.
There are 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 40 x 49, 46 x 55, 50 x 64, 58 x 70, 64 x 80, 81 x 100, 89 x 114 and 102 x 125 cm. The original measures 83.9 x 105.4 cm, so 81 x 100 cm is almost its size. As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 81 x 100 cm suits well.
Keep the face at eye level and the centre about 150 cm from the floor.
Can I choose another size or a frame?
Yes. The original is roughly 4 : 5 in proportion; in that ratio the painted frame, the hand and the fan all stay. Tell us the size you want for Agatha Bas and we will quote a price and a delivery date.
We send Agatha Bas rolled, on a stretcher bar or framed; our workshop in Slovenia prepares every canvas painting. You compare frames for Agatha in the 3D application, which is only for that; seeing her on your own wall is a separate service. Dark wood repeats the painted frame, gold the embroidery.
When will the painting be with me?
We paint Agatha Bas to order and dispatch her within 15 to 45 working days; the parcel with Agatha travels customs-free across the EU. As soon as the portrait is painted we send you a photograph; whatever you would like different, we correct, and our returns policy applies to every order.
For a wedding anniversary, a lover of fashion or someone who should choose the size, there is the wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Portrait of Agatha Bas?
In the British Royal Collection, at Buckingham Palace in London (RCIN 405352).
Whose wife was Agatha Bas?
The wife of the Amsterdam wool merchant Nicolaes van Bambeeck; she lived from 1611 to 1658.
Where is her husband’s portrait?
In the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels.
How old was she?
The inscription AE 29 says she was 29.
Is your Agatha Bas a print?
No, it is a hand-painted copy; the painter paints the lace, pearls and fan with a brush.
How big is the original?
It is 105.4 cm high and 83.9 cm wide. Our sizes run from 40 x 49 to 102 x 125 cm.
Can I order a companion with her husband?
In our range the male companion is the Portrait of Jan Six; for the portrait of Nicolaes van Bambeeck, write to us.
Who would like it as a gift?
For a wedding anniversary, and anyone who loves elegant portraits.
- Subject: a young townswoman in black with white lace stands in a painted frame, holding a fan.
- Original: 1641, oil on canvas, 105.4 x 83.9 cm, Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace, London.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 102 x 125 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: her husband’s portrait hangs in Brussels.
