The headscarf

An opulent headscarf with a pearl circlet and diadem, the only article of clothing, restrain the young woman’s hair. The headscarf is an integral part of the colour composition of the painting. It takes on the colour of the sky, mountains and landscape and so connects the figure with her surroundings. It also frames her young face and becomes a geometric reflection of the whole; the triangular section echoes the vertical line of the window frame, the round section the curve of the mirror.

The leaf decoration, outlined in gold yellow, picks out the shade of her hair, the pearls her skin tone. It’s also interesting to note the leaf pattern reoccurring in the landscape behind and the design of the bedspread repeated in the shape of the red sheet she is scantily clad in.