Portretul lui Gheorghe Orăscu
From the collection of Bucharest Municipality Museum
From the collection of Bucharest Municipality Museum
This is a portrait of a man with a thick mustache and beard, dressed in a dark frock coat and a white shirt with a bow tie. He’s holding a cigar in his right hand and has a star-shaped medal pinned to his left lapel. The background is plain and dark, putting all focus on his face and clothes. The artist used bold contrasts between light and dark to make the man’s face stand out. The medal suggests he might have held some kind of official role, though we don’t know which. If you like this style, look up chiaroscuro to see how artists use light and shadow.
