Portrait Of A Young Woman
17th century
Medium
Black chalk, white and gray pastel, and graphite on faded blue paper
Dimensions
sheet: 15 3/8 x 12 3/4 in. (39 x 32.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1993
Accession Number
1993.199
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Wallerant Vaillant’s *Portrait of a Young Woman* captures the quiet elegance of 17th-century European portraiture. Working primarily in the Netherlands and at various European courts, Vaillant was among the first artists to embrace pastel as a serious medium for finished portraits rather than mere studies. Here he combines black chalk, graphite, and subtle touches of white and gray pastel on faded blue paper, allowing the colored ground to serve as a middle tone that unifies the composition and lends a soft, atmospheric quality to the sitter’s features. The drawing’s restrained palette and de...
About the Artist
Wallerant Vaillant · 1623–1677
Wallerant Vaillant (1623-1677) was a French-born Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker who pioneered the mezzotint technique in printmaking. Born in Lille on May 30, 1623, he died in Amsterdam on August 28, 1677, leaving behind a significant legacy as both a portraitist and innovator in graphic arts. Vaillant holds a distinguished place in art history as one of the first professional artists to...