Veiled Bust ("The Veiled Nun")

Italian 19th Century, possibly after a model by Giuseppe Croff

National Gallery of Art

A free-standing, white marble sculpture shows the head and upper chest of a woman whose face is covered by a light veil. In this photograph, the chest is squared toward us, and the woman looks down and to our right. The veil has vertical folds over her face but we can still make out the hollows of her eyes, her straight nose, and her small mouth. Her wavy hair is pulled loosely back into a bun at the back of her crown. The veil gathers on either side of her face and crosses over neck to drape over her chest. The sculpture curves down in a wide U from near her shoulders, and is supported on a white marble pedestal. The background behind the sculpture is pale gray in this photograph.