Woman at a Window, Reading a Letter

Sir David Wilkie

National Gallery of Art

The image is an etching showing a man standing inside a building, visible from the waist up and leaning out of a window with his body angled slightly toward the viewer. He is holding a piece of paper in his hands, examining it closely. A woman is outside, her back turned to the viewer, with her hair tucked under a bonnet. She wears a long dress and her body is slightly angled as she looks towards the man in the window. The etching is set against a backdrop of a building's façade, with details of brickwork and wooden window frames visible around the window where the man stands. The window is divided into smaller panes, typical of older architectural styles. The overall background is simple, with emphasis on the interaction between the two figures.