Young Lady with a Rose

Pieter Vanderlyn

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This portrait relates stylistically to documented works by Vanderlyn, who was of Dutch ancestry and practiced his profession in the region around Kingston, New York, in the Hudson River valley. While displaying a solemn expression, his sitter here wears fashionable clothing and jewelry. The pose is derived from a British mezzotint after a portrait by Sir Peter Lely (National Portrait Gallery, London). Although the drawing is awkward, the artist has shown a commendable interest in depicting human character. In her overlarge right hand, the subject holds a single rose in an explicit gesture that is also found in other portraits of young women by this artist, often signifying love and marriage.

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