FRENCH SCHOOL (18th century)

The present portrait bears a resemblance to the work of female miniaturist Marie Therese de Noireterre, especially in the handling of the facial features of the sitter. However, this cannot be attributed for certain, given that many French portrait miniaturists at this time were working in extremely similar styles. Our sitter is wearing a simple, purple dress, with an almost transparent gauze shawl over the top. The low, V-neck style of this dress is common from the period in which the miniature has been dated to, and the same can be said about her hair. This is powdered, a practice that remained popular amongst fashionable men and women until the turn of the century. 

The artist has paid close attention to animating the fabrics that the sitter wears. In order to do this, small sections of the watercolour used over her shawl have been manipulated to appear translucent- either achieved through using very little paint or removing some of this once it has been added to the support.