# Portrait of a Young Woman

- By: Edward Harrison May (born Croydon, England 1824-died Paris, France 1887)
- Date: 1862
- Medium: oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard
- Classification: Paintings
- Dimensions: 24 x 16 3/4 in. (60.9 x 42.4 cm.)
- Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, Thomas W. Evans Collection
- Museum: [Smithsonian Institution](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=16612)
- Rights: [CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/89788239ae8f9fd391358b63f4b869fa.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In this painting of an unknown young woman, Edward Harrison May used soft brushstrokes and muted colors to emphasize her dreamy expression. The girl’s tilted head, wide eyes, and slightly parted lips create an idealized image that is both classical and melancholy. Her dark hair and rich green dress emphasize the porcelain skin of her bare throat, reinforcing the nineteenth-century idea of women as fragile creatures.