2-999-723 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Portrait of a Woman with a Pomander, 1563. This woman’s affluence is seen in her embroidered cap, pearl necklace, and the gold chain from which hangs a pierced metal container, or pomander. Pomanders held sweet-smelling herbs or perfumes to combat the foul smells generated by limited personal hygiene. The arm of the chair upon which her hand rests appears to be decorated with a hexagram. In the sixteen century a hexagram might be used by Christians, Jews, and Muslim alike; the symbol only started to be identified more exclusively with Jews as the "Star of David" in the following century.