Unidentified profile portrait, woman facing left
1773–1820
Medium
Cut black paper silhouette
Dimensions
3 3/4 × 3 1/4 in. (9.5 × 8.2 cm)
Classification
Cut Paper
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Leopold Heinemann, 1948, transferred from the Library
Accession Number
2013.141.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate cut-paper silhouette captures the graceful profile of an unidentified woman left, crafted by an anonymous German artist 1773 and 1820. Measuring just 3¾ × 3¼ inches, the work exemplifies the Schattenriss technique—intricately scissor-cut from black paper and likely mounted against a contrasting background to highlight its stark, elegant lines. Such miniatures demanded remarkable precision, distilling a sitter's likeness to essential contours without color or detail. In late 18th- and early 19th-century Europe, silhouettes like this one democratized portraiture, offering an affor...