Tronie
Study of a Young Woman (also known as Portrait of a Young Woman, or Girl with a Veil) is a painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer.
The sitter is depicted as having a homely face... with a small nose and thin lips. The lack of idealised beauty has led to a general belief that this work was painted on commission, although it is possible that the model was Vermeer's daughter. The artist probably used a live model but, as with Girl with a Pearl Earring, did not create the work as a portrait, but as a tronie,
a Dutch word meaning "visage" or "expression", a type of Dutch
17th-century picture appreciated for its "unusual costumes, intriguing
physiognomies, suggestion of personality, and demonstration of artistic
skill".
The picture encourages the viewer to be curious about the young woman's
thoughts, feelings, or character, something typical in many of
Vermeer's paintings.
More at the two links.
Ever watch "Tim's Vermeer"?
ReplyDeleteWatched it in 2016, but didn't blog it.
DeleteOoh, gonna watch me that. Thanks for the tip!
DeleteWatched it. Liked it. Blogged about it. Thanks once more!
DeleteFunny. Tronie has degenerated to a slur for face in Dutch. It's mostly used to describe ugly faces, or the near future ugliness of a face after it's been beaten up.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there's a linguistic relation to the word troll....
I wondered about that too. The Etymologiebank says it probably goes back (via French) to a Gallic word *trugna. It also states the connotation was negative from the start, except in relation to painting.
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