Skip to main content
portret van Anna Goos Jacob van Reesbroeck, Portret van Anna Goos, MPM.V.IV.044, Collectie Stad Antwerpen, Museum Plantin-Moretus, Beeld: Fotografie Peter Maes

Anna Goos

Coming from a wealthy patrician family, at around the age of eighteen Anna Goos (1627-1691) married Balthasar II Moretus, twelve years her senior. Especially after the death of her husband in 1673, she proved to have a strong character and considerable entrepreneurial ability.

She took charge of the company, steered it through a payment crisis and seamlessly continued the system of bookkeeping for the family’s assets. She lived until her death in the ‘Golden Compasses', where she reverently hung portraits in the most appropriate rooms.

Her clothing and coiffure, with curls reaching to the shoulder, are perfectly in keeping with contemporary fashion. Her Antwerp lace collar is beautiful and very costly. At the bottom of the portrait, we can just see her expansive sleeves made of fine material. Her pearl necklace was a wedding gift from her husband, while the bow-shaped jewel on her chest was probably inherited from her mother: such valuables could be given by women to their daughters as a form of financial security.

Museum Plantin-Moretus

Unesco werelderfgoed

Slogan icons

Subscribe to our newsletter