Portrait of a Woman
Medium
gray and red wash over graphite, heightened with white gouache on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 5.4 × 4.7 cm · secondary support: 5.3 × 4.8 cm
Classification
Portrait Miniature
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession Number
1997.82
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
This portrait was assigned the historically colorful but fictitious title of “Anne of Denmark” at some point after memory of its true identity had been lost. Giving illustrious titles to portraits of unknown sitters was a popular strategy adopted by dealers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, often applied to miniature portraits and, in particular, to Smart’s sketches of women. Only the sitter’s head and neck are drawn, and a low-necked dress is faintly suggested. Her head is turned t...