The stiff, three-quarter pose seen here follows a formula applied by Westerbaen in several portraits of women, including one dated 1649, last in Mainz, and the Portrait of Anna van Steenborch of 1653 now in Zwolle. The costume—which comines a deep collar, or labaar, a white shift underneath a black dress with a stiff front, or vlieger, and a hairpiece worn with a loose coiffure—also accords with these other portraits, pointing to a local fashion. The thin necklace in this work reflects a greater sense of modesty than the rows of pearls worn by the other sitters. Westerbaen has described with some intensity such details as the patterns in the lace, using fine strokes together with scratches that reveal the dark underlayers. He has also distinguished sensitively between the textures of transparent lace, soft flesh and thin, wavy locks of hair. The strong fall of light on the background, dividing it into light and dark areas, is characteristic of the artist’s work from before 1650. Althogh the thin layers of colour applied in the areas of flesh reflect an established Dutch tradition, the freedom of description and brushstroke also reveals knowledge of the contemporary Haarlem school.