The Bashful Cousin

Francis William Edmonds

National Gallery of Art

In the bottom left corner of this painting, a dog stands at an open door, through which light streams into a dark house. On the edge of the doorway, a man and a woman are standing, their arms linked. The man's body is turned towards the doorway, while the woman gestures back into the room. Both of them have light skin, and the man has blond hair while the woman has dark hair. He wears a tan jacket over a pink vest and white pants, while she wears a brown blouse and a bright red skirt with a blue cloth tied around her waist and a black scarf. To the right, a table covered in a white cloth is set with a tea service and two empty wooden chairs. A man and a woman sit on the right of the table, the man reading a newspaper and the woman looking towards him, pointing at the couple in the door. Both of these people also have light skin, and the man has gray hair while the woman wears a white bonnet. In the background behind the table, an archway leads to another room. A person with dark skin stands in the doorway, looking out at the table, holding a roast chicken on a plate. This person wears a red bonnet and a green apron. The walls and floor of the room are brown, with some areas of light and some of shadow.