Cornelia Claesdr Voogt

"Portrait of Cornelia Claesdr. Vooght" is an exquisite work by Frans Hals, a distinguished painter from the Dutch Golden Age, completed in 1631. This captivating piece is part of the Frans Hals Museum's collection and is frequently paired with the portrait of her husband, Nicolaes Woutersz van der Meer.

In the painting, Cornelia is gracefully seated in a large armchair, adorned in a cap, a black dress with a fur cape, a ruff, and lace wristbands. Her family's coat of arms is prominently displayed in the top left corner, alongside inscriptions that note her age and the year 1631.

Originally, this masterpiece was part of Fabricius van Leyenburg's collection and was subsequently donated to the Haarlem Municipal Museum in 1883. Art historian Hofstede de Groot documented it in 1910, highlighting its three-quarter length style, which was among Hals' early experiments in this format.

In 1974, Seymour Slive confirmed the painting's authenticity, along with its companion piece. Interestingly, x-ray scans have revealed different faces beneath the current ones, suggesting that the portraits may have originally depicted other individuals. Despite this intriguing discovery, both paintings are celebrated today as authentic works by Hals, with the possibility that they were altered at some point in their history.