Portrait of Elisabeth Bellinghausen, Bartolomäus Bruyn
In the run-up to their wedding in 1539, Elisabeth Bellinghausen and Jakob Omphalius commissioned a diptych from the Cologne painter Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder (1493-1555). Bruyn was particularly successful as a portraitist – an entire generation of Cologne dignitaries had their portrait painted by him.
Elisabeth is holding a sprig of bittersweet, which was the attribute of unmarried couples in Cologne portraits. Elisabeth’s braids also refer to the engagement period, as married women wore their braids under their cap.
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