Tochter Mary als Griechin

Von Stuck painted a great many portraits of his only daughter, Mary, and he frequently depicted her in historical or regional costumes. Here he paints the 14 year old Mary in an Ancient Greek peplos and headdress. Instead of using preparatory sketches for these portraits, von Stuck tended to use photography. He would take several photos of his subject from different angles before deciding on the exact pose and composition (fig. 1). He would then often trace around the photograph, which explains the subtle black outline to the figure discernible in this portrait of Mary.