Hendrickje Stoffels in the Window

Catalogue number: Bredius 116.

Though Rembrandt often treated his faithful mistress Hendrickje Stoffels (1625/26-1663) shabbily, he often portrayed her magnificently. In this canvas, hers is a pensive, possibly Sibylline image, standing at a double door. It was suggested that the key or ring suspended over Hendrickje's heart may be emblematic of domestic virtues, or housewifery, all too appropriate to her servant origin and fate.