Portrait Of A Woman With Red Jacket Trimmed With Fur And Braid German School, 18th – Early 19th

Portrait of a woman with red jacket trimmed with fur and braid
German School, late 18th – early 19th century
Oil on canvas, 64 × 48 cm
XIX century gilded wooden frame

Dressed in a red fitted jacket trimmed with fur — attire suited to the colder season — the woman is portrayed with a high powdered hairstyle, in keeping with the fashion of the time, from which a long braid descends carefully arranged across her chest. Her face is shown frontally, with a composed and unembellished gaze.

The hand gently touching the braid introduces a personal, intimate gesture, perhaps habitual, that the painter chose to preserve. There are no symbolic objects or background elements: the figure stands alone, emerging with discretion from a neutral ground.

The painting shows a slightly provincial but pleasing manner: essential, measured, with close attention to facial features and compositional balance. It can be placed within the German school active between the late 18th and early 19th century, in cultured yet provincial settings, far from the grand urban centres. Comparable works can be found in the circle of Johann Jakob Mettenleiter and other regional portraitists active in Swabia, Bavaria, and Bohemia.

Likely painted for a domestic context, this portrait retains a quiet and genuine presence.

Original canvas, not relined. Good overall condition, with a patina consistent with age and minor edge wear.