A young woman wearing a long gown strides toward us down carpeted stairs, in front of an entourage of several musicians and attendants in this square painting. The men and woman all have pale skin. The woman's dress has a long, cream-white skirt, and the white bodice is trimmed with gold and jewels. The vibrant ruby-red, puffy sleeves are gathered at the elbow and fit tightly over the forearms. She wears a red and gold headpiece over her bound, chestnut-brown hair. She has large brown eyes, a narrow nose, smooth skin, and her deep pink lips are closed. She looks slightly to our left and up.…
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"Who Is Sylvia? What Is She, That All the Swains Commend Her?"

painter Edwin Austin Abbey (American, 1852 - 1911)

1896-1899; reworked 1900

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 121.92 × 121.92 cm (48 × 48 in.) ; framed: 158.12 × 158.12 × 13.97 cm (62 1/4 × 62 1/4 × 5 1/2 in.)
Culture
American
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CAB
Credit line
Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection, 1926)
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art

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