Portrait of a young aristocrat

Portrait of a girl by Bolesław Rusiecki is a realistic but slightly sentimental image, which charms by a little strange combination of fairness, gentleness and seriousness. Within the context of Lithuanian art history, this picture is interesting and valuable as a rare example of a portrait of a child. For a long time, portraits of children were left on the margins of portrait painting and began to spread in Europe in the 19th century, mostly in the second half of the century. That was determined by the changes in public mind and even in philosophy. More attention was paid to the relationships among family members, and childhood became appreciated as a period of innocence and purity in human life.