The Story
Portrait of a Young Girl is a small oil-on-oak panel painting by the Early Netherlandish painter Petrus Christus. It was completed towards the end of his life, between 1465 and 1470, and is held in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. It marks a major stylistic advance in contemporary portraiture; the girl is set in an airy, three-dimensional, realistic setting, and stares out at the viewer with a complicated expression that is reserved, yet intelligent and alert. It is widely regarded as one of the most exquisite portraits of the Northern Renaissance.
" The panel builds on the work of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, and was highly influential in the decades after its completion. Its appeal lies in part in her intriguing stare, accentuated by the slight misalignment of her eyes, while the eyebrows are faintly skewed.
Executed in Oil on panel, measuring 58.6 × 49.8 cm (23 1/16 × 19 5/8 in.); Framed: 76.8 × 67.6 × 3.8 cm (30 1/4 × 26 5/8 × 1 1/2 in.), the surface rewards close looking. Attributed to Pieter Dubordieu builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
