This dignified woman, aged 48 as indicated by the inscription, was clearly very wealthy, as shown by her costly black dress, her pearls, and the large scale of the portrait. She was probably unmarried; otherwise she would have been turned to the left, facing a portrait of a husband. It has been suggested that the background with its view onto a landscape was painted by the talented “Dordrecht pearl,” Margaretha van Godewijck, who received painting lessons from Nicolaes Maes.