Princess

A young woman stands wrapped in a heavy, richly patterned brocade or tapestry that she holds spread above her head and out to either side like a canopy or wings, its floral and scroll motifs in ochre, olive, and blue. Beneath it she wears a cropped patterned top and dark trousers, her bare midriff and steady, direct gaze the only plain notes in an otherwise densely decorated frame.

Thick, visible brushstrokes build up the fabric's pattern in loaded strokes of blue, rust, and cream against a near-black ground, while the face and skin are painted more smoothly, catching a single warm light. The contrast between painterly textile and quiet, watchful expression gives the picture a dramatic, theatrical charge.