Lady in White Dress in front of Cloudy Sky

This miniature shows a young lady who is seated on a balcony or a veranda. Whereas her body is slightly turned to the left, she looks into the distance on the right. The whole picture conveys lightness and grace. It almost seems as if the painter had spontaneously seized the opportunity to capture the lady in a portrait. This miniature, formerly ascribed to Chateaubourg himself, shows some similarities with his work indeed but details in the painting technique indicate that it was created by somebody else. Compared with other portraits of Chateaubourg the brush structure is too blurred; the sitter's hair does not show linear heightenings in fair gouache colours, and the lower eyelids have no dotted lashes, all of which is typical for his work. The light representation of the background is atypical, too.¹ The whole miniature is characterized by a quick light guidance of the brush. Its high quality is visible in the representation of the sitter which includes her hands and hips.²
J. S. O.