A young girl undressing.

A young woman undresses in this 1844 painting, one of Eckersberg"s controversial nude studies that challenged the conventions of Danish academic art. Eckersberg"s commitment to painting the female nude from life—rather than from plaster casts—was progressive for Copenhagen but created difficulties with the Academy"s conservative members. These studio studies document both his pedagogical beliefs and his unflinching commitment to observed reality.

The nude figure is rendered with the clinical precision of a life study, Eckersberg"s analytical approach to the human body treating flesh, light, and form as problems of observation rather than idealization. The palette is naturalistic, with warm flesh tones carefully modulated to suggest the body"s surfaces and contours. The handling is precise and controlled, consistent with Eckersberg"s belief that accurate drawing was the foundation of all good painting.