Anna van Spangen, Wife of Adriaen van der Goes

A dark-haired lady wears a white headdress and a dark grey dress with a black yoke and brown fur linings in the sleeves. She is evidently well off: the neckline of her chemise is decorated with golden cords and rosettes, and she wears a gold chain and rings.

This is Anna van Spangen, identifiable from the lozenge-shaped coat of arms in the top right, which includes the shields of the van der Goes, van Spangen and Goudt families. Anna was the daughter of Laurens Pietersz (from an illegitimate branch of the van Spangen family) and Maria Goudt. In 1530 she married Adriaan van der Goes, who became Advocate of Holland in 1544.

This picture may well have been one of a pair showing husband and wife - a portrait of Adriaan, apparently dated 1543 and giving his age as 38, is known from various copies.

Credit: Bequeathed by Miss Martha Brown, 1897