Bust of peasant woman in profile

Nono's 'Bust of a Peasant Woman in Profile' (1885) is a formal exercise in the profile portrait tradition — the side view creating a different visual experience from the direct gaze of frontal portraiture, the profile associated with classical medallion portraiture and with the discretion of observing a subject unaware. The peasant woman subject within the profile format created a composition that combined documentary observation of social type with the formal elegance of profile portraiture.

The profile bust format provides a formal constraint that Nono uses to investigate the specific character of the peasant woman's features — the line of the profile, the particular form of the head from the side, the specific arrangement of the hair visible in this view. His modeling of the face and neck in profile required different technical approach from his frontal portrait subjects, using the profile's clear silhouette as the primary compositional element.