Artist: Tessa Posthuma de Boer

La Belle Ferronnière is a portrait of a lady, usually attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, in the Louvre, Paris. It is also known as Portrait of an Unknown Woman. The painting’s title, applied as early as the seventeenth century, identifying the sitter as the wife or daughter of an ironmonger (a ferronnier), was said to be discreetly alluding to a reputed mistress of Francis I of Frsnce, married to a certain Le Ferron. Later she was identified as Lucretia Crivelli, a married lady-in-waiting to Duchess Beatrice of Milan, who became another of the Duke’s mistresses.

La Belle Ferronnière, 2021, has been made with the excellent photo collage technic Tessa Posthuma de Boer is using for her art work.

Hahnemühle German Etching Print 310 grams, size 30x20cm, edition of 15  (+ 1 A.P.)

Tessa Posthuma de Boer studied photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. After her final exams in 1993 she started working as a portrait photographer. Her portraits have appeared in many different newspapers and magazines, including De Volkskrant, Ajax Magazine, FD, National Geographic, VPRO Guide, Psychology Magazine, etc. A large number of advertising campaigns (Rabobank, Fiat, Postbank, Vodafone, PostNL to name a few). Tessa also often works for businesses, like Akzo Nobel, Staatsbosheer, VU Medical Center, Audi and KPN. And she is wellknown for her many author portraits on behalf of publishers.

Tessa’s autonomous work is regularly exhibited in the Netherlands and abroad. She teaches photography at the Buitenkunst Foundation.