A Princess of Saxony

Lucas Cranach the Elder

National Gallery of Art

Shown from the lap up, a young girl with pale, peachy skin and long, light brown hair wears a crimson-red dress with slashed, puffed sleeves and three large, gold-colored necklaces covering much of her chest in this vertical portrait painting. She sits with her body angled slightly to our left and, with her head tipped slightly forward, she looks off in that direction with slate-blue eyes under faint brows. Her long, wavy, golden-brown hair falls from her high forehead and lies loose around her shoulders. Her dress has bands of a floral pattern outlined in a lighter red against a ruby-red background, and the bodice ties with red laces down the front over a white undershirt. The tight-fitting, long sleeves are slashed around the elbows so the white linen shirt can be pulled through to create puffs. Her high-necked chemise has a jeweled band at the neck. The three strings of the distinctive necklace seem to be made of gold-colored strips of fabric or leather made into twisting loops, which are then linked together like a paper chain. Each strip is painted or decorated with a fine, dense lattice pattern and edged in gold. The girl sits with her wrists crossed in her lap against a black background.