Detail of the Old Woman Cutting her Nails in Style of Rembrandt in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2011

Artist: Style of Rembrandt (Dutch, second or third quarter 17th century)

Title: Old Woman Cutting Her Nails

Date: 1655–60

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 49 5/8 x 40 1/8 in. (126.1 x 101.9 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913

Accession Number: 14.40.609


Gallery Label:

Once well known as a Rembrandt, this large canvas has been attributed recently to the master's pupil, Nicolaes Maes (1643–1693), and to Abraham van Dijck (ca. 1635?–1680?). The two artists were closely associated in Dordrecht, the southern Dutch city from which several Rembrandt followers came. Whatever its authorship, the painting must date from about 1655–60. The sewing materials and the act of clipping nails probably suggest domestic virtues of a kind often associated with widowhood. The monumental treatment is unexpected and surely inspired by Rembrandt.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/europe...