The words “age-inappropriate” don’t seem to have crossed the mind of the magnificent old woman in Quinten Massys picture from 1513 billed as The Ugly Duchess.
There she is, in a huge head-dress that was frankly medieval to Renaissance eyes, her saggy breasts propped up by her bodice. Her features are practically simian and there’s a most unbecoming smirk on her face as she fingers a tiny rose bud, pointed towards the object of her affections, a dignified elderly man in the picture to her left – almost certainly meant to be seen with her as A Grotesque Couple.
