Closer Inspection Of A Famous Painting Is Forcing Experts To Rethink Everything

Grotesque. Strange. Hideous. These are just some of the terms that have been applied to An Old Woman, a famous work of art by Quentin Matsys. The painting, which features an unattractive older lady in fine dress, is known all over the world, but here’s the thing: we’ve all likely been interpreting it wrong. That’s according to art experts, who have begun to argue that all isn’t what it seems in this painting.

The Ugly Duchess

Matsys’ work is probably better known by another name: The Ugly Duchess. It was created in 1513 or thereabouts, with the Flemish painter making use of oils to complete it. He depicted his subject, the old lady, with features we might generously describe as “exaggerated.” To be blunt, she isn’t exactly a looker.

Harsh features

The nose on the subject’s face is short and flat, with big, flared nostrils. Her lips are thin. Her ears are large. Her skin is slack and wrinkly. A wart pokes out of her right cheek, while the hair on her head appears to be thinning beneath that headdress she’s wearing.

Outdated outfit

The subject’s unsightly features stand in contrast to her expensive-looking clothes, which appear to have been designed for an individual far younger than her. Obviously the style of these clothes seems outdated to those of us around today, but weirdly they were already old-fashioned when Matsys was working on this painting. This outfit would have been typical of affluent ladies of a period from roughly 1400 to 1500.

The red flower

We see the woman’s hand is grasping a red flower. There’s special significance to this detail, as red flowers once served to signify a person’s status as engaged to be wed. But oddly, this woman seems far older than people typically would’ve been when they got engaged during Matsys’ day.