Bust of a Woman Wearing a Turban c. 1640 - 1642

Guido Reni rendered this arresting image of a woman with what appears to be pastel on paper. Notice the composition, with the dark background, which creates a void, and the oval shape which confines the image. The model gazes downward, drawing our eye to the plate she holds, with three red berries placed precisely in the center of the plate, disrupting our expectations. The folds and fabric of her dress and turban create texture and pattern. The contrast between the darks and lights add to its allure. The turban alludes to the exotic, and there is a semiotic interplay between concealment and revelation. The turban hides her hair, and the oval shape suggests containment, but the woman's gaze breaks the frame. This visual dichotomy suggests a negotiation between private and public, or perhaps, innocence and experience. Note how the framing accentuates the interplay between surface and depth, not unlike the way an artist navigates the space between representation and abstraction. This artistic act of framing embodies a desire for knowledge, yet it acknowledges the limits of what can be known or represented.