John William Godward (British, 1861-1922)

Dr. Swanson states that this "painting is important in the sense that it represents an excellent late example of Godward's early technique. The pigmentation of the edges of objects, folds of drapery and face are soft. Instead of his later penchant for following the contour of the form being represented, he brushes his paint cross-ways, in thick impasto, allowing feathered edges. By 1895 even this smaller work adopted a harder edge and much more delicate finesse of brush-stroke" (Swanson, p. 190).