National Gallery Nights Self-Guided Tour: Prom

A woman with pale skin, wearing a silvery-gray dress adorned with white ribbons and light pink roses, stands looking out at us with a small, pug dog by her feet in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s body is angled slightly to our right but she looks at us with dark eyes under faint, arched brows. Her nose is rounded, her cheeks smooth and flushed, and her pale pink lips are closed. Her face is framed in a cloud of nickel-gray hair, and tendrils curl down over her shoulders. She wears a wide-brimmed straw hat with a white ribbon set on the back of her head and slightly off to one side. The bodice of her dress has a low, curving neck. This area is loosely painted to create the impression of layers of lace. A band of intertwined pale pink roses and delicate green leaves borders the outer edge of the lace. The dress has long, tight sleeves with lace at the cuffs and the notably narrow waist is tied with a blush-pink ribbon. The full, silver skirt is picked up to create a row of puffs, like the top of a muffin, around her knees. Bunches of pink roses and white ribbons are nestled into the puffs, and below, the skirt falls in long, vertical pleats to her ankles. She wears white stockings and pointed, petal-pink shoes. In her left arm, on our right, she holds a closed fan loosely at her side, almost lost behind the skirt. She holds a pink carnation with a full bloom and a bud on a long, curving stem in her other hand, by her hip. A caramel-brown pug with a black face, wearing a pink collar lined with three bells, stands facing us with one front paw lifted, to our right of the woman's feet. The landscape is painted in tones of mint and sage green for grass beneath trees enclosing the space the woman stands in, sand brown for the ground, and icy blue for the sky above.

Francisco Goya, The Marquesa de Pontejos, c. 1786, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.85

Gallery 52
The Marquesa de Pontejos

Married at the age of 24 to the Spanish ambassador to Portugal, the Marquesa de Pontejos was a patron of artist Francisco Goya, who painted her portrait around the time of her wedding. Her fabulous gray dress—a wonder of lace, ribbons, and petticoats—and straw hat atop an elaborate powdered hairstyle imitate fashions promoted by Queen Marie-Antoinette of France.

A young woman with light skin stands in a garden, wearing a voluminous, full-length, silvery, shimmering gown in this vertical portrait painting. Her body faces us, as she looks into the distance to our left. She has rosy cheeks, gray-green eyes under gently arched, light brown brows, and her coral-pink, thin, closed lips curve in a slight smile. Her ash-brown hair is pulled back and adorned with tiny shell-pink and azure-blue flowers along the left side top of head, to our right. A pleated lace ruffle encircles her smooth neck. Her gown is parchment white where the light glints off the stiff fabric and is silvery gray in the shadows, creating a silk-like sheen. The dress is cut low across the chest, fits tightly around her narrow waist, and has puffy sleeves tied at the elbows with topaz-blue bows. Another blue bow is tied at her chest, and the ends wrap around her back along her waist. A corsage at her left shoulder, to our right, is a profusion of white flowers around a pale pink rose. In her other hand, to our left, she holds a straw hat with a shallow crown and a wide brim, trimmed with sky-blue ribbon. The arm holding the hat is nearly engulfed in the deep folds of her full skirt. She holds a pink rose in her other hand, which rests on the lip of a shiny, copper-colored urn filled with pink flowers and delicate green leaves. On that wrist she wears a bracelet with four strands of white pearls holding a cameo. She stands on a pale, dirt ground. A teal-blue bench in the lower left corner of the painting is tucked into sage-green shrubbery. Sprigs of pink roses are strewn across the seat and on the ground. The woman is framed to either side with olive and celery-green trees and vegetation, which blend into the hazy distance beyond her head.

François Boucher, Madame Bergeret, possibly 1766, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1946.7.3

Gallery 54
Madame Bergeret

The fresh glow of Marguerite Bergeret’s complexion, the shimmery fabric of her gown, the profusion of roses, and even the rustic straw hat typify French aristocratic life in the 18th century. François Boucher captured the grace and glamour of a pampered way of life, where aristocrats seemingly had little more to do than seek pleasant pastimes.

A man with pale peach skin and dark hair wears a military uniform and stands in front of a desk in this vertical portrait painting. He nearly fills the composition so seems close to us, and he looks directly at us. His body is angled slightly to our left and he tucks his right hand, on our left, flat against his chest between the buttons of his jacket. His navy-blue waistcoat is white along the front where it is fastened with brass buttons along his chest. The jacket has red cuffs, gold epaulets on the shoulders, and three medals affixed to the chest. White britches end just below the knee, and white stockings covering his calves are wrinkled at the ankle above black shoes with brass buckles. A candle burns low in a lamp on an ornately carved and gilded desk behind the man. Books and papers are piled on the desk to our right. More papers and a thin sword rest on a chair in front of the desk to our right. The chair is also carved and gilded, and is upholstered with scarlet-red fabric decorated with gold bees. The legs of the chair push back the forest-green carpet underfoot. A tall clock stands on the wall opposite us and reads 4:13. A few capital letters are written on a scroll of paper on the chair, “COD.” The artist’s name is also written as if printed on a scroll of paper on the floor behind the desk to our left: “LVD.CI.DAVID OPVS 1812.”

Jacques-Louis David, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.15

Gallery 56
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries

Napoleon Bonaparte wears the evening uniform of the elite corps of the French army. His wrinkled stockings, disheveled hair, and the clock on the wall that reads 4:13 suggest he has been working all night. Painter Jacques-Louis David made the emperor appear taller by lowering the desk’s height and by drawing our eyes upward with vertical wall decorations.

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing an off-the-shoulder, black gown stands in front of a maroon-red wall in this vertical portrait painting. Her body is angled to our left, but she turns her round face to us. Her dark gray eyes seem out of focus, looking slightly off to either side of us, under faint brows. Her nose is straight, her pink lips closed over a pillowy chin, and her cheeks are lightly blushed. Her black hair is parted down the middle and smoothed to each side, pulled back and framed by a garland of flowers that drapes from the crown of her head down to either side of her chin like parentheses. The garland is made of peach-colored roses, burgundy-red flowers, and sage-green leaves. Her sloping shoulders are pale and smooth. The sleeves of the black dress wrapping around her upper arms are edged with a wide band of lace. The edge of a white undergarment is visible along the top of the black dress, which has a tightly fitting bodice. The skirt billows out at the narrow waist to fall in thick, heavy folds off the bottom edge of the painting. A large, oval, red jewel is set into a silvery-gold brooch at the front center of her neckline. Dimples are visible across the backs of both pudgy hands. With her right hand, on our left, she holds the end of a long strand of pearls encircling her neck. On that wrist is a gold bracelet with coin-like disks hanging from thick, gold links, and she wears a gold ring with a pearl and blue and red jewels on that ring finger. Her other arm hangs by her side. There, she wears two bracelets, one of gold and pearl, the other with a medallion of celestial blue enamel surrounding a pearl, also set in gold. Two gold rings with red stones are on the third finger of that hand, and a silver ring with a crest is on her pinky finger. With that hand she holds a closed fan with silver and gold sticks, and the end of a sheer black shawl that wraps up across her back and over the other shoulder. The top two-thirds of the wall behind her is covered by a pattern of stylized wine-red flowers against a muted maroon-red background. A wooden rail divides the top section of the wall from the gray paneling below. A few objects in the lower left corner, seen beyond the edge of her skirt, are difficult to make out, but could include a richly decorated gold and upholstered chair, a glove, and a white, lace-edged handkerchief. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner of the red patterned wall: “I.A.D. INGRES P.XIT ANO 1851.” The woman’s name appears in the upper right, “M.E INES MOITESSIER NÉE DE FOUCAULD.”

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Madame Moitessier, 1851, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1946.7.18

Gallery 56
Madame Moitessier

The regal bearing of Ines Moitessier, the wife of a cigar importer, may have attracted the attention of French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Her splendid black velvet gown, with a black lace shawl wrapped around her waist, shows off her marvelous jewelry. The heavy bangles around her wrists, rings, and the long pearl necklace all signal her wealth.

John Singleton Copley, Abigail Smith Babcock (Mrs. Adam Babcock), c. 1774, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Robert Low Bacon, 1985.20.1

Gallery 60B
Abigail Smith Babcock (Mrs. Adam Babcock)

Wearing pearls and a cape lined with ermine, Abigail Smith Babcock is the picture of wealth and success in colonial Boston. Sitters in several of John Singleton Copley’s other portraits wear similar garments. He was known to offer those who posed for him a choice of fancy dress, based on European fashions, to wear in their portraits.

American 19th Century, Portrait of a Man (Possibly Peter Vogelsang Sr.), probably 1829, oil on wood, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1953.5.22

Gallery 63
Portrait of a Ship's Steward

Although the artist and sitter are unknown, this rare early American portrait of a Black man offers a clue to his possible profession. Seen through the window is the New Philadelphia, one of the first commercial passenger boats to employ African Americans as stewards and waiters.

Shown from the knees up, a woman with brown, wrinkled skin, wearing a white blouse, apron, and black skirt is shown in front of a pale gray background in this vertical portrait painting. Straight-backed, she faces and looks at us with her hands resting in her lap. Her wavy, iron-gray hair is parted in the center and pulled back from her face. Her eyebrows are slightly raised, and her face is deeply lined down her cheeks and around her mouth. She wears a heart-shaped brooch with a red stone at its center at her neck and a gold band on her left ring finger. The light coming from our left casts a shadow against the wall to our right. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner: “A.J. MOTLEY. JR. 1922.”

Archibald John Motley Jr., Portrait of My Grandmother, 1922, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, Avalon Fund, and Motley Fund, 2018.2.1

Gallery 71
Portrait of My Grandmother

Archibald John Motley Jr. created this portrait of his dignified 80-year-old grandmother, Emily Sims Motley, in 1922. The family matriarch wears a white apron over a simple blouse fastened with a heart-shaped brooch. Much of the composition is dominated by varying shades of a single color, white.

A young woman, holding a baby in her lap, sits on a wide bench draped with a patterned midnight-blue fabric in this vertical panel painting. The panel is rectangular at the bottom and becomes a pointed arch at the top. The woman and baby both have pale skin tinged with peach, and halos inscribed on a gleaming gold background. The woman’s body is angled to our right and she tilts her head in that direction to look down at the child. She has a slender, oval face, with hazel-brown eyes under thin brows, a long nose, and coral-pink lips. A sliver of blond hair peeks out from the honey-gold cowl that covers her head, neck, and shoulders. The cowl is layered over her gold-trimmed, burgundy-red robe, which has an opening through which her right arm, closer to us, reaches to support to the child. That arm is covered by a long, gold sleeve patterned with scalloped brick-red and marine-blue designs and smoke-gray flowers. The word “MATER” is inscribed on her neckline and “AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA DOM TECV BEN” along the bottom hem. On the woman’s lap, the child is angled to our left with the woman’s slender hands wrapped around his torso. His mouth is slightly open as he tilts his head up to look at her. His right hand, on our left, reaches up to gesture at her neckline. He has wavy, blond hair and hazel eyes under faint brows, a small nose, and peach-colored lips set in a round face. He wears an ankle-length, cobalt-blue tunic trimmed with bright gold. The fabric on the bench is covered with cobalt-blue and crimson-red flowers, and pools around the seat and across the floor.

Gentile da Fabriano, Madonna and Child Enthroned, c. 1420, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.255

Gallery 3
Madonna and Child Enthroned

Working in 15th-century Italy, Gentile da Fabriano combined brilliant color, rich texture, and ornamental pattern in his art. Here, Mary, the mother of Christ, sits on a bench covered by floral material. Look closely to see the four angels that are incised into the gold-leaf background.

This square portrait shows the head and shoulders of a young woman in front of a spiky bush that fills much of the background except for a landscape view that extends into the deep distance to our right. The woman's body is angled to our right but her face turns to us. She has chalk-white, smooth skin with heavily lidded, light brown eyes, and her pale pink lips are closed. Pale blush highlights her cheeks, and she looks either at us or very slightly away from our eyes. Her brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back, but tight, lively curls frame her face. Her hair turns gold where the light shines on it. She wears a brown dress, trimmed along the square neckline with gold. The front of the bodice is tied with a blue ribbon, and the lacing holes are also edged with gold. A sheer white veil covers her chest and is pinned at the center with a small gold ball. The bush fills the space around her head with copper-brown, spiky leaves. A river winds between trees and rolling hills in the distance to our right. Trees and a town along the horizon, which comes about halfway up the painting, is pale blue under an ice-blue sky.

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.a

Gallery 6
Ginevra de' Benci

This painting of Ginevra de’ Benci, the daughter of a wealthy banker in Florence, Italy, was probably commissioned about the time of her marriage at age 16. Her brown dress is enlivened with blue ribbon lacing, gold edges, and a sheer white blouse fastened with a gold pin. Ginevra’s portrait reigns as the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas.

Johannes Vermeer, Girl with the Red Hat, c. 1669, oil on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.53

Gallery 50
Girl with the Red Hat

Artists occasionally dress models in unusual costumes, such as this flamboyant feather hat and sumptuous blue wrap, to show off their technical skill in reproducing textures and effects of light. Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer painted this vivid figure on a wood panel instead of his customary canvas.

Shown from about the waist up, a light-skinned man with sagging jowls and a double chin wears a fur garment and hat, a large teardrop pearl earring, and gold chains in this vertical painting. In front of a cracked gray stone wall, the man's body is angled to our right but he turns his face to look at us with brown eyes under a furrowed brow. He has a bulbous nose, and his lips are slightly parted under a wide, wispy mustache. His brown hair is mostly hidden under the tall dark brown fur hat, which is wrapped with a gold chain with a gold medallion at the front. The chestnut-brown fur coat looks especially fuzzy along the neckline, which is also encircled with a thick gold chain. A gold, crown-shaped pendant with a black brush hangs over his right shoulder, closer to us. He holds a gold-tipped cane with his right hand, his thumb extended along the cane. The artist signed and dated the work in the upper right corner,

Rembrandt van Rijn, A Polish Nobleman, 1637, oil on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.78

Gallery 48
A Polish Nobleman

The beaver hat, dark fur cloak, and massive gold chain and medallion suggest this sitter was Slavic—or was he? Through dramatic accents of light and dark on the man’s face, bold brushwork, and dense application of paint, Rembrandt van Rijn created a powerful presence rather than a portrait of a specific person.

Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck, Andries Stilte as a Standard Bearer, 1640, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1998.13.1

Gallery 46
Andries Stilte as a Standard Bearer

Standing in front of militias and holding a flag, standard bearers wore bright, bold colors to draw the enemy’s fire. Traditionally they were unmarried, so they would not leave behind a family if they were killed. Here, Adries Stilte’s blue standard and sash identify his company and rank, while his shimmering satin costume and plumed hat display his personal taste, wealth, and bachelor status.

Shown from about the waist up, a woman with smooth, pale skin sits in a chair facing our right in front of a canvas on an easel in this vertical portrait. She leans onto her right elbow, which rests on the seat back. She turns her face to look at us, lips slightly parted. Her dress has a black bodice and a deep rose-pink skirt and sleeves. She wears a translucent white cap over her hair, which has been tightly pulled back. A stiff, white, plate-like ruff encircles her neck and reaches to her shoulders. She holds a paintbrush in her right hand and clutches about twenty brushes, a wooden paint palette, and a rag in her left hand, at the bottom right of the canvas. The painting behind her shows a man wearing robin's egg-blue and playing a violin.

Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait, c. 1630, oil on canvas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, 1949.6.1

Gallery 46
Self-Portrait

Confident in her abilities as a painter, Judith Leyster holds the tools of her trade: a palette, cloth, and no fewer than 18 brushes. While she would not have dressed this way while at work in her studio, Leyster chose to present herself as an artist worthy of her profession and place in society.

National Gallery Nights Prom