Portrait of a Woman Near a Fountain, a Rose in Her Hand

The Dutch artist Johann Thopas made meticulous drawn portraits of merchants and intellectuals in the Dutch city of Assendelft. His drawn portraits—made faster and for less expense than painted portraits—appealed to middle-class patrons, as did his unique style combining naturalistic likenesses with elaborate background settings. Using a combination of leadpoint and ink, Thopas achieved remarkable tonal subtlety in this image of a well-dressed woman holding a flower in front of an ornate neoclassical garden.