Quentin Massys
The Moneylender and His Wife
From $80
This painting is sage green, white and deep blue, and a cheap copy blurs the embroidery. Our Massys Ugly Duchess print was graded from a high-resolution master so the headdress pattern and the brooch stay sharp.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
12x16 inch, 20x28 inch, 28x40 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its tall shape suits a study, a hallway or a living room wall. The greens and blues look rich with cream, slate and walnut, and a black or gold frame suits it.
About the painting
The Ugly Duchess by Quentin Massys
A satire
Around 1513 Massys painted an old woman in the horned headdress of her youth, long out of fashion. She holds a red bud, a sign of engagement: she is looking for a suitor.
Leonardo and Erasmus
Massys is thought to have swapped drawings with Leonardo da Vinci. The picture may also answer Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, which mocked women who still play the coquette.
Into Wonderland
It is thought to be a source for John Tenniel’s Duchess in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). It hangs in the National Gallery, London.
Read the story
An old woman looks to one side. She wears a tall horned headdress, a dress cut low, and a jewelled brooch. In her hand she holds a little red flower bud.
Quentin Massys painted her in Antwerp, around 1513. By tradition, he had started out as a blacksmith before he became a painter. He went on to become the first great master of the Antwerp school.
This picture is a joke, and a sharp one. Her headdress was the height of fashion when she was young, but by 1513 it was long out of date. And the red bud was a sign of engagement. She is dressed up and looking for a suitor.
Massys may have been thinking of the writer Erasmus, who had just mocked women who "still play the coquette" in old age.
She was once half of a pair. The other picture shows an old man, who raises his hand, as if to turn her down.
Massys is thought to have swapped drawings with Leonardo da Vinci, and Leonardo's own drawings of strange old faces look very like her.
Three hundred and fifty years later, the artist John Tenniel drew the Duchess for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. His Duchess is thought to come straight from this painting.
She is now in the National Gallery in London.
The Ugly Duchess. Quentin Massys, about 1513.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
