Coffin Portrait of a Woman with a String of Pearls
unknown
Basic information
- ID
- Ж-5902
- Author
- unknown
- Name
- Coffin Portrait of a Woman with a String of Pearls
- Date of creation
- 18th c.
- Technique
- oil painting
- Material
- tinplate oil
- Dimensions (height x width, cm)
- 35.5 x 42.5
Additionally
- Type
- painting
- Genre
- portraiture
- Provenance
- Lviv Historical Museum
Information about author
Object description
In the seventeenth century, the burial of a prominent noble was accompanied by a ceremony in which the portrait of the deceased played a defining role. The coffin portraits were created "ad vivum" (as if alive) on a silver, copper or tin plate. They had a hexagonal shape due to their placement on the coffin's corner. In the seventeenth century, it was strictly hexagonal; in the eighteenth century, the basis remained the same hexagonal shape but acquired a complicated baroque profile. The main requirement for such portraits was to be as similar as possible to the face portrayed. The painter was not allowed to idealise; his task was to capture the individual facial features in detail. The portrait shows a woman's face – a person of a strong and commanding character. Her poignant, blushing face, close to the viewer, is full of vital energy. The proud look of her brown eyes, her mouth as if composed in a smile, and the raised head emphasise the self-confidence of the portrayed. Ornaments such as expensive earrings in her ears, strings of pearls around her neck, and heirlooms in her hair are shown realistically. Only the framing of the portrait speaks of its epitaphic purpose. Biletskyi believes that the depicted woman resembles Sophia Radziwill, painted by W. Klikowski in 1740 (LHM).
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
