Jacques Antoine Marie Lemoine

Lady in Front of a City Skyline

Whereas the sitters were commonly presented in a landscape or in an interior in mid-18th-century miniatures, later miniaturists often preferred to restrict themselves to a neutral background. Lemoine, however, even went so far as to choose the skyline of a city, a rather unusual background for a miniature. This city view (possibly Paris) is painted in grisaille. According to contemporary taste, the young lady is shown in a simple fair dress with a transparent fichu. The voluminous wig is held together by a thin blue ribbon, a little posy of roses decorates her breast. The masterly application of the gouache paint becomes obvious in the light colour of the dress and the background, to which the transparently painted incarnate parts form a nice contrast.