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Portrait of Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen
Public domain

Portrait of Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen

c. 1533 · panel; oil paint (paint)

From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

Long accepted as the earliest known north Netherlandish self-portrait, this is probably a copy after a lost work. Such portraits illustrate the increasing status of artists. Jacob, whose traditional nickname means ‘son of Cornelis from Oostsanen’, looks directly at us. Behind him is a paper with the date 1533 and his monogram, I W (inverted) v A (‘J[acob] W[ar] v[an] A[msterdam]’).

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s own description
Credit linePortrait of Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen. c. 1533. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain.

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