The Needlewoman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Needlewoman |
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| Spanish: La costurera | |
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| Artist | Diego Velázquez |
| Year | c. 1635-1643 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 74 cm × 60 cm (29 in × 24 in) |
| Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
The Needlewoman (Spanish: La costurera) is an oil-on-canvas painting by Diego Velázquez, painted between 1635 and 1643. It is housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Subject
The Needlewoman is an unfinished portrait, in which the head, modeled in light and shadow, is the most fully realized part. The arms and hands are sketched in briefly. The result displays Velázquez's facility for portraying gesture, his method of summarily constructing the figure, and his ability to suggest a subject's melding into the surrounding atmosphere.
Similarities have been noted between The Needlewoman and The Lady with a Fan; not only do the facial features seem consistent, but so, too, is the brushwork of the face and chest. Although the subject's identity is not known for certain, it has been proposed that she was Francisca Vélazquez del Mazo, the artist's daughter. If, indeed, the subject in both paintings was the same sitter, it would at least suggest an intimacy between artist and subject.
See also
In Spanish: La costurera para niños
- List of works by Diego Velázquez
