Portrait of a little girl

This portrait of a little girl on panel, dated 1850 and now at the National Museum of Art of Romania, belongs to Grigorescu's earliest surviving works, made when he was approximately twelve years old. The use of panel rather than canvas reflects the influence of icon painting traditions he had absorbed during his early training at Bucharest's icon workshops, where wooden supports were standard. Grigorescu's precocity was remarkable: he was producing competent portrait work as a child, supporting his widowed mother through early commissions. A portrait of a little girl on panel would have been a typical modest commission from a Bucharest family—informal, affordable, a memento rather than a grand statement. That the work survives and entered the national collection testifies to Grigorescu's eventual fame, which rendered even his juvenile work historically significant. The comparison between this early piece and his mature portraits reveals how dramatically his technique transformed under French training.

The panel support and early date suggest conservative, careful technique—smooth modeling influenced by icon painting conventions, restrained palette, and close attention to the face as the primary subject. The approach is methodical where his later work is spontaneous.