3-002-437 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Important Response, 19th century. A woman in early 17th-century attire is seated at a table pondering a letter she is writing. In the background is a high Japanese screen. The artist has lavished great care in the rendering of the contrasting surfaces of his subject's satin dress and of the rug covering the table. In its intimacy and in its oriental note, this work approximates the painting of Alfred Stevens.