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The Love Letter
(18th and 19th Centuries )
In this intimate boudoir scene a young woman is strategically positioned in front of a mirror so that the light source, blocked from view, reveals the reflection of her face and shoulder while silhouetting her form. Her chemise falls from one shoulder to reveal her back. Around her neck is a strand of coral beads, gleaming in the light, and in her hair is tied with a green ribbon. She leans against a pier table reading a letter in which only the greeting "May dear" is legible. On the table at the left is a discarded mask and on the right a bouquet of dried flowers beneath a glass dome.
Inserted beneath the rabbet of the mirror frame is a card inscribed "W.H.D.C. Wright / Rome." William Henry De Courcy Wright (1795-1864) of "Blakeford," Queen Anne's County, Maryland, traveled in both South America and Italy. The painting passed through five generations of descendants to its donor to the museum. Unaware of the artist's signatures, the family traditionally attributed this picture to Hans Heinrich Bebie (ca. 1800-1888) a specialist in portraits and enigmatic domestic genre scenes. Bebie was a native of Zurich who emigrated to Baltimore.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
William Henry De Courcy Wright, Blakeford, Queen Anne's County, Maryland [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Anne Gordon Boyce Baldwin (Mrs. Ludlow Baldwin), by inheritance [passed down through five generations from Wright]; Walters Art Museum, 1979, by gift.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 1/24/1980 | Examination | examined for condition |
Geographies
Italy (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 26 3/8 x W: 21 1/16 in. (67 x 53.5 cm); Framed H: 35 x W: 29 1/4 in. (88.9 x 74.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Anne Gordon Boyce Baldwin (Mrs. Ludlow Baldwin) in memory of Mrs. Anne Gordon Johnston and Miss Mary Gordon Thom, 1979
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.2565