"Little Girl with a Basket of Cherries" - anonymous Netherlandish master, circa 1575-80.

This sweet faced little girl has not been identified, but her dress dates the portrait to the 1570s. Suspended from one of the gold chains around her neck is a pendant made from a piece of coral. For centuries, coral was used for children's jewelry; it was believed to protect them from evil. Carnations, like those decorating her headdress, were thought to serve a similar purpose. Though it was a not uncommon device in portraits of little girls at the time, the iconographic meaning behind the basket of cherries is unknown. The artist is also unknown, but is thought to have been a follower of Martin de Vos, who was working in Antwerp at this period.