Jan Gossaert - An Elderly Couple [c.1520]

Jan Gossaert - An Elderly Couple [c.1520], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The only known double portrait by Gossaert. The sitters have not been identified. On the badge on the man's hat a young naked couple with a cornucopia are depicted, clearly providing a contrast with the age of the subjects, and perhaps an ironic comment on their present state.

Jan Gossaert, sometimes called Mabuse, is often described as a pioneering Romanist: he was one of the first Flemish artists to travel to Italy, and to use aspects of Italian art in the Netherlands. Gossaert's experience of Italian art, however, radically affected his output. He adopted ideas from classical art and from 16th-century works, and created statuesque nudes, in pictures such as the Adam and Eve.

[Oil on parchment laid down on canvas, 46 x 66.9 cm]