Portrait of a Woman

In the pictureWithin a round ivory plaque 60 mm across, a woman in a wide-brimmed black hat wound with ribbon, her curls falling to her shoulders, sits in a chair and smiles. Her glossy dark dress has sleeves ending at the elbow, is closed with lace at the bosom, and has a light sash around the waist tied with a bow at the side. A bracelet shows at her wrist. Behind her are a drape and a column base; the frame is a metal rim engraved with a leaf pattern, with a loop at the top. At lower left the back of a chair covered in patterned fabric is visible.

BackgroundAugustin Dubourg (1758–1800) was a French miniaturist, and few of his works survive. The museum's record gives no date, but the large ribbon-trimmed hat and loose curls were common in French women's dress in the late 1780s, so the picture is thought to date from around then. Unlike Dubois's Portrait of a Woman, part of the same 1962 bequest, whose image is in color and shows a gold frame with a sky-blue band, this one has a leaf-pattern frame and a black-and-white museum image. The round frame with a loop shows that it was an ornament meant to be worn or hung.

Puzzle tipBeing black and white, it divides by brightness instead of color. Build the circle first from the outer leaf-pattern frame and the loop at the top, then match the brightest pieces: the face, the lace at the bosom, the sash and the hat ribbon. Between the black hat and the dark dress, the one with a sheen is the dress. Fill in the drape and column base behind her last. The gray texture of the curls forms a bridge between the black of the hat and the face. Easy (about 24 pieces) is recommended.