Skip to Main Content
Home>National Gallery of Art Communications Office>2015>Fragonard Conservation>Images

Press Images

File name: 1961161.jpg
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Young Girl Reading, c. 1770, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mrs. Mellon Bruce in memory of her father, Andrew W. Mellon

File name: detailsfragonard.jpg
Details of Young Girl Reading, the near infrared hyperspectral image (HSI) and the x-ray florescence (XRF) scan for the element mercury (thought to show the presence of vermilion) are shown alongside a simulation of Portrait of a Woman with a Book, generated by cross-referencing various imaging techniques (simulated image by Becca Goodman and Denis Doorly).

The researchers were able to establish that Portrait of a Woman with a Book existed as a “complete” painting for at least six months before it was changed into Young Girl Reading. The composition once showed a woman with her head turned outwards, looking at the spectator. She wore a large feathered headdress dotted with colored beads, a thinner neck ruffle than in the subsequent painting, and she was illuminated by a frontal light source. An amorphous folding shape in the background behind her was suggested to be a curtain on the basis of precedents in 17th- and 18th-century French portraiture.

*
*
*
*
*
 
*
 
 

Groundbreaking Research Reveals Significantly Different Composition in Jean-Honoré Fragonard's Young Girl Reading, at National Gallery of Art, Washington

Usage: Images are provided exclusively to the press, and only for purposes of publicity for the duration of the exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. All published images must be accompanied by the credit line provided and with copyright information, as noted.

Important: The images displayed on this page are for reference only and are not to be reproduced in any media. To obtain images and permissions for print or digital reproduction please provide your name, press affiliation, and all other information as required(*) utilizing the order form at the end of this page.

Links to download the digital image files will be sent via e-mail. Please use the captions and credits below as listed.

Please include a brief description of the kind of press coverage planned and your phone number so that we may contact you. Please allow a minimum of one full business day for image requests.