The Spanish Girl in Reverie

Washington Allston

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

When Allston first exhibited this painting at the Boston Athenaeum in 1831, he also displayed the poem, written by him, that inspired the composition. It told the romantic story of "Sweet Inez," who awaits on the spot of her betrothal for the return of her lover, Isidore, from war. Allston's image of Inez is ethereal and luminous--a favorite facial type in his work--and her body language reveals yearning, hope, and fear. Alone in an awesome landscape, she is caught in a moment of reverie and reflection. The artist's approach to the landscape created great interest due to his dematerialization of the solid mountainous forms via meticulous glazings of diaphanous color.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art