Portrait of a Woman

In the pictureOn a round ivory plaque 66 mm in diameter is painted a young woman whose long, light brown curls hang loose. Around her head she wears a white cloth with a ribbon, red earrings hang from her ears, and she draws a white shawl closed inside a teal jacket, one hand placed on her chest. The background is a deep teal. Around the picture run, in turn, a beaded gold rim, a gold band engraved with a fine pattern, and a sky-blue band, with a loop at the very top. On the right a signature reading "Dubois l'an 2" can be seen. Her body is turned slightly to the left, and her gaze is directed straight ahead.

Background"l'an 2" is read as referring to Year II (1793–1794) of the Republican calendar used during the French Revolution. The museum's record leaves the date blank, but if the signature is taken at its word, it is a picture from the height of the Revolution. Frédéric Dubois was a French miniaturist active from 1780 to around 1819. Round miniatures like this were worn on the body in a pendant or kept in a box, and the sitter's name has not survived. It entered the museum in 1962 as a bequest of Millie Bruhl Fredrick. Such miniatures were painted in watercolor on thinly sliced ivory plaques, and the translucent ivory ground makes the skin glow.

Puzzle tipWork from the outside in. First set the round border pieces, where the pale gray background, the sky-blue band and the gold rim overlap, to make the circle, and attach the loop piece at the top. Inside, fit the face, the white headscarf and the white shawl pieces, then separate the jacket and background, both in the same teal range, by the sheen on the folds of the clothing. The signature shows faintly on a background piece at the right and can be used for checking, and the beaded texture and fine engraved pattern of the gold rims are clues for telling the inner and outer edges of the frame apart. 24 or 48 pieces is about right.