Portrait of a Woman Aged Fifty-Seven and Portrait of a Man in an Armchair, by Hans Mielich

Location: Room 6, Second floor.

The Portrait of a Woman Aged Fifty-Seven by Hans Mielich (Munich, 1516–1573), one of a group of works from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on deposit with the Museu Nacional d´Art de Catalunya and never before displayed at our Museum, travelled to the Kasteel Huis Bergh (Netherlands) last year to be reunited with a male portrait by the same artist – its companion piece, from which it was separated at an unknown date in order to be sold. From 13 April onwards, the two paintings can be viewed together for the first time in Spain.

In accordance with a scheme that is typical of Mielich, the figures, with their heads slightly turned, are seated on the same type of armchair with gleaming metal ball finials and studs that reflect the light. The window and the landscape in the background of the portrait of the gentleman continue and end in the painting of the woman. The latter is dated 1539 and signed HM – the artist’s initials – though the sitters’ identities are unknown. The works are accompanied by a special display in which visitors are invited to reproduce the scene by dressing in the clothing worn by the sitters and posing against a similar background created for this purpose.