In the studio

In a cluttered room, a man in a loose pink shirt and dark trousers sits on a red-draped couch, one leg crossed, looking toward a young woman who stands beside him in a white top, pale open-knit cardigan, dark corduroy trousers and a soft cap, her hand raised near her chin. Behind them the wall is covered with pinned sketches, photographs, a heart-shaped woven ornament, beads and a small crucifix, while a wooden table with a cloth stands to the right.

The scene is painted in warm, slightly muted tones dominated by the red of the couch against the pale cream wall, with the two figures rendered in careful, even light and precise detail typical of studio genre painting. The wall's accumulation of small objects is picked out with the same sharp finish as the figures, giving the whole an intimate, lived-in feel rather than a staged pose.