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Portrait of a Lady
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
In this miniature the woman’s sparkling blue eyes draw us into the image. Her hairstyle reflects the French vogue for elaborately teased and “built-up” hair. In a letter from 1783, Thomas Jefferson noted that the simpler colonial styles made a woman’s head “as flat as a flounder.” The sitter imitated European fashions to convey her wealth and status, at a time when many colonial Americans were adopting a plainer style to express their desire for independence.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit linePortrait of a Lady. ca. 1775. Unidentified (French). Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund. CC0.
