Portrait of a Woman

Amberger was a Swabian artist who worked mostly in Augsburg. This portrait of a woman forms a pair with a portrait of a man, probably her husband, also in the Hermitage. In the modest bust-length depiction we see a desire to create a complex characterisation of the subject, her appearance marked by features of tenderness and calm restraint. In the painterly freedom and fine nuances of light and shade we can sense the influence of Titian, whom Amberger assisted in 1548, when the Venetian was invited to Augsburg to work the court of the Emperor Charles V. Amberger's portraits, many of which were commissioned by the Emperor, Ludwig of Bavaria and the rich Fugger family of merchants, are typical of mid-16th-century German art.