Portrait of a Woman, Probably Susanna Lunden (Susanna Fourment, 1599–1628)

Art Historical Context

Peter Paul Rubens, one of the foremost masters of the Flemish Baroque, painted this intimate portrait around 1625–27. The work is believed to depict Susanna Fourment, sister of Rubens’s second wife, Helena. Rendered in oil on a wooden panel, the painting captures the sitter with characteristic warmth and vitality, her direct gaze and softly modeled features reflecting the artist’s celebrated ability to convey both physical presence and inner life. Rubens frequently worked on wood supports during this period, allowing him to build luminous layers of translucent color that give the flesh tones and fabrics a remarkable sense of depth and immediacy. The added strip along the bottom edge suggests the composition was adjusted, possibly to accommodate a different frame or setting—an intriguing glimpse into the artist’s working process. Today in the Metropolitan Museum’s European Paintings galleries, the portrait offers visitors a window into early seventeenth-century Antwerp society and Rubens’s enduring fascination with the women in his circle. Its sensitive handling of light and texture continues to invite close looking, revealing the human connection at the heart of Baroque portraiture.

About the Artist

Peter Paul Rubens · 1577–1640

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) stands as the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition and the greatest exponent of Baroque painting's dynamism, vitality, and sensuous exuberance. Born in Siegen, Westphalia, and raised in Antwerp, Rubens received a humanist education studying Latin and classical literature before pursuing artistic training under three masters: Tobias Verhaecht, Adam ...