Technical Notes
The support is a tangentially cut panel of mahogany scored in a twill pattern that runs from the bottom left to the top right. The back of the panel is coated with a dull grayish yellow paint.

The ground is gray, of moderate thickness, and evenly applied. The paint is thinly applied with slight impasto in the highlights. The head and body were loosely sketched in with a brush and then developed with thinly applied, overlapping brushtrokes. The face appears to have been painted first. The gray ground was allowed to partially show through in shadow areas around the eyes, nose, and mouth. The curls on the sitter’s forehead were first thinly painted with brown paint and then left in reserve while the face was painted. Darker brushstrokes that were used to further define the hair overlap paint used for the face and background, indicating that the finishing details in the hair were added after the face and background were largely completed. There are also skips in the paint layer where the paint does not extend down into the twill scoring.

The dress was sketched broadly with darks and lights and later developed with thicker applications of whites and grays. The green background overlaps the white sleeve. The red shawl was added after the figure and background were largely completed. Adjustments in contours are evident in the underlying brushwork below the ear, along the jaw line, and along the neckline of the dress.

The painting is largely in good condition, with a minimal amount of age cracks throughout. However, some very small dark spots to the right of the nose can be seen under microscopic examination as pitting and as partially dissolved resinous material within the paint layer. In addition, some small flake losses are evident on the forehead.

The painting appears to have a synthetic varnish that is evenly applied.

Frame Notes
The frame consists of a gilded softwood molding of a two-piece construction; the back pieces have butt-end joins at the corners, and the top pieces have mitered corner joins. The main body of the frame is water gilded. A strip of applied carved-wood ornament in the central wide scoop of the frame alternates between oil gilding on the more heavily carved portions and water gilding on the smoother portions. The sight edge is stepped and rises to a bead. This is followed by a wide central cove, with a strip of applied carved-wood ornament, that rises to a quarter-round outer edge. The back panel is finished with matte yellow paint; the rest of the frame has red bole under the gilded surfaces.