The artwork, “Portrait of a Young Woman,” is a creation by the illustrious Peter Paul Rubens, dated between 1628 and 1635. It is executed in chalk on paper, showcasing Rubens’ mastery in the medium. Emblematic of the Baroque period, this piece falls within the genre of sketch and study. The artwork resides within the esteemed collection of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The portrait displays a young woman gazing downward with a soft yet pensive expression. Her gaze is cast slightly to the side, and the light shading suggests an ambient interplay of light and shadow, accentuating her delicate facial features. Rubens has skillfully rendered the textures of her garments and the intricate frills adorning her attire, demonstrating a tactility suggestive of the fabric’s weight and movement. The strokes of chalk are varied in intensity and form, conveying depth and dimensionality, which breathe life into the subject. This study may have served as a preliminary work, capturing the transient qualities of a moment, characteristic of sketches that often precede a more polished and comprehensive composition in Rubens’ oeuvre.
