Old Lady with a Plaid Shawl
1840
oil
From the collection of Museum of Fine Arts Boston
1840
oil
From the collection of Museum of Fine Arts Boston
This painting is a portrait of an older woman, depicted from the waist up. She wears a dark jacket and a plaid shawl draped over her arms, with a ruffled bonnet on her head. The background is dark, which helps the subject stand out. The woman's attire and the style of the painting suggest it is from the 19th century. Her expression is neutral, and her gaze is directed slightly to the side. To learn more about the artist's use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to give the illusion of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects and figures, look up chiaroscuro.
