Portrait of a lady, three-quarter-length, in blue classical dress, with roses and marigolds in her left hand, a sprig of honeysuckle in her right, in a landscape, a waterfall beyond

Nicolaes Maes was one of Rembrandt's most talented pupils and, while little is known about his earliest work, by the early 1650s he was painting biblical subjects and genre scenes in a style influenced by his master, among them the famous series of eavesdroppers. From around 1660 the artist worked almost exclusively as a portraitist. Maes's popularity increased dramatically after his move to Amsterdam in 1674 and, according to Houbraken, 'so much work came his way that it was deemed a favour if one person was granted the opportunity to sit for his portrait before another, and so it remained for the rest of his life.'