In 1974 Seymour Slive listed this painting as Hals' first example of a portrait at three-quarter length of a woman sitting in a chair. At that time both this painting and its pendant were considered completely original, so Slive then assumed that the Hals portrait of Cornelia's sister Maritge was influenced by this one because the sitters were sisters.Frans Hals, by Seymour Slive, 1974 a catalog raisonné of Hals works by Seymour Slive: Volume Three, the catalogue, National gallery of Art: Kress Foundation, Studies in the History of European Art, London - Phaidon Press, 1974 on Nicolaes Woutersz van der Meer; catalog number 77-78, page 46-47 Today both this painting and its pendant are considered original Hals portraits, but x-ray photographs show different faces under the faces we see today, leading to the possibility that these portraits once belonged to other sitters.Frans Hals Museum
