Portrait of a woman in a bonnet 1786 - 1799

Editor: So here we have "Portrait of a Woman in a Bonnet" by Gilles Louis Chrétien, made sometime between 1786 and 1799. It's a print using etching and graphite, housed right here at the Met. The first thing that strikes me is its intimate scale. What do you see in this piece, beyond just a portrait? Curator: It whispers, doesn't it? All delicate lines and soft shadows, a stolen glance. It feels…French, doesn't it? The powdered curls escaping that simple bonnet, the almost severe neoclassical style…it’s poised right on the edge of revolution. This work is of an etching rendered with such a personal touch; almost like a pressed flower in a diary. Have you noticed how the roundel format lends it an almost antique feeling? It’s a memory encased in form. Editor: A pressed flower...that’s a lovely way to put it. So it's neoclassical, but with a feeling. Is it unusual for portraits of the time to have that sensibility, that personal…yearning? Curator: The official portraits of the era—all pomp and circumstance—served to bolster power. But this…this feels like something more private. Maybe a husband commissioned it for remembrance, a lover to hold on to. It shows an inner life, don't you think? What do you make of her expression? Editor: I do. It’s so subtle, a hint of a smile maybe? Something definitely hiding beneath the surface. I really felt that! It almost makes me wonder who *she* really was. Curator: Exactly! That's the beauty of it, isn’t it? We can never truly know her, but Chrétien has given us a glimpse, a whispered possibility across the centuries. Editor: So, while the style evokes a specific time, it also transcends it, speaking to something timeless in the human experience. Thanks, that gave me a totally fresh angle on the piece! Curator: It's a two way street you know...You prompted insight in me, too! Never stop questioning what appears. That is the first job for both art lovers and artists.