Explore Art
Color
Shown from the waist up, a woman with pale skin and brown hair, wearing a dark corset and white fabric over her shoulders, looks down at needlework in her hands in this vertical painting. Her cheeks are rosy and her dark hair is pulled back, though it seems looser down the sides of her face. A small, coral-red, crescent shape at the back of her head could be covering her hair or holding it in place. White, nearly translucent fabric lies loosely across her shoulders over a dark, moss-brown, long-sleeved dress. Her breasts swell over the squared, lace-trimmed neckline. She holds white fabric and perhaps a needle in her hands, which rest on a tan cushion on her lap. The scene is loosely painted throughout so some of the details are difficult to make out. A darker spot along her right index finger could be a thimble. The background is the same olive-tan of the cushion.

The Needlewoman

Diego Velázquez

Shown from the waist up, a woman with pale skin and brown hair, wearing a dark corset and white fabric over her shoulders, looks down at needlework in her hands in this vertical painting. Her cheeks are rosy and her dark hair is pulled back, though it seems looser down the sides of her face. A small, coral-red, crescent shape at the back of her head could be covering her hair or holding it in place. White, nearly translucent fabric lies loosely across her shoulders over a dark, moss-brown, long-sleeved dress. Her breasts swell over the squared, lace-trimmed neckline. She holds white fabric and perhaps a needle in her hands, which rest on a tan cushion on her lap. The scene is loosely painted throughout so some of the details are difficult to make out. A darker spot along her right index finger could be a thimble. The background is the same olive-tan of the cushion.

Details
Palette

Select a color to find related artworks.

Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 74 x 60 cm (29 1/8 x 23 5/8 in.) framed: 102.2 x 88.3 x 7.6 cm (40 1/4 x 34 3/4 x 3 in.)
Department
CIS-B
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

8 tags

Subject Matter

  • Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 99%

    The metadata describes a woman engaged in needlework, and the image clearly shows her handling fabric in a domestic-scale activity.

  • Human Figure Both · 100%

    A single human figure occupies the central and largest part of the composition.

  • Work and Workers Both · 83%

    The figure is visibly engaged in manual sewing or needlework, supporting the depiction of work and a worker.

Visual Qualities

  • Dark Colors Visual · 95%

    Dark brown, olive, black, and gray tones dominate the dress, hair, cushion, and background, with lighter fabric and skin providing contrast.

  • Slumped/Draped Visual · 92%

    The white shoulder cloth and additional pale fabric in the lower portion of the composition are visibly draped and irregularly arranged.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The National Gallery of Art identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

  • Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Visual · 91%

    The face, hands, hair, fabric, and background are rendered with broad, loose, visibly painterly strokes rather than uniformly delineated detail.

Time Periods

  • 17th Century Art Metadata · 100%

    The catalog dates the work to c. 1640/1650, placing it in the seventeenth century.

Source & rights

Diego Velázquez. The Needlewoman. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

Related

Loading related artworks…