Portrait of a Lady beside a Rose Bush
1655
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From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1655
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This is a black-and-white portrait of a woman in a fancy dress. She’s holding a rose bush with one hand, and her other arm rests on a dark curtain behind her. Her hair is styled in loose curls, and she wears a pearl necklace and a ruffled collar. The artist used shading to make her face and dress look three-dimensional. The background is mostly dark, but the rose bush adds a little detail. Look up chiaroscuro next to see how this shading works.
