Study of Lilia

Carolus-Duran

National Gallery of Art

Facing away from us against a cherry-red background, the head and shoulders of a light-skinned woman wearing strawberry red, with her copper-brown hair piled atop her head, fills this vertical painting. Her body is angled to our right so her shoulders slope down in that direction, and we see the back edge of her right ear and the curve of her smooth cheek. Touches of coral pink outline the earlobe and sharpen the hollow below the top edge of the ear. Her hair is gathered into a bun on the top of her head, and curls flare out over her right temple. Her garment has puffy sleeves and a broad collar across her upper back. The neckline curves close to the base of her pale neck. The portrait is loosely painted, especially in the background, where black strokes are mixed into the red, and in the woman’s garment, where wide, visible brushstrokes create the impression of pleats and shadows. The artist signed the work in the upper left corner, “Carolus-Duran.”