Peter Eduard Stroely

Lady with Blue Scarf

A young lady in a translucent empire gown is represented in front of a blue-grey background ¹ . Her long curly hair is tied with a blue scarf decorated with a border and fringes and falling over her right shoulder. The lady' s head being turned to the right whilst her body is turned to the left gives tension to the composition. The miniature painter carefully reproduced the sitter' s tender curls which frame her face. In her left hand she is holding a sheet of paper on which she has just written à toi, thus dedicating her portrait miniature to a specific addressee. This unusual gesture testifies to the intimate character of most miniatures. Unfortunately the unnatural posture of the lady' s right arm is somewhat awkwardly reproduced ² . Nevertheless, the picture gives a beautiful and touching impression.

J.S.O.

¹ Blue-grey backgrounds are typical for this miniature painter.

² Possibly the sitter wished to be painted in this posture. Since it is found in other miniatures by Stroely, too, we know that it was in his repertory. A portrait of a lady in identical posture and almost identical clothes but without a sheet of paper is in the collection of the House of the Hapsburgs, Vienna (Keil 1999, no. 195) which contains thirteen other miniatures by Stroely.