Portrait of a Woman

This head and shoulders portrait of an elegantly dressed woman is paradoxically characterised by both its simplicity and underlying wealth of detail. With its dark neutral background, limited colour scheme and simple composition, the portrait comes together as a balanced and harmonious whole. However, the artist has also sought to render the particular texture of each item of clothing. Everything from the fine embroidery of the tall lace collar, the neckline of the black dress and the shiny surface of the gold chains has been reproduced with an astounding level of detail. The portrait was bought in connection with Wilhelm Marstrand’s estate sale in 1873 together with a similarly sized portrait of a man who was presumably the woman’s husband