Jeune Fille au chapeau

Young Girl in a Hat is one of Fragonard's charming informal portraits that capture feminine youth and beauty with characteristic freshness. The fashionable hat adds a note of contemporary style to what might otherwise be a timeless image of girlhood. The bravura brushwork—rapid, swirling strokes building luminous effects—was applied alla prima onto canvas primed with warm ochre grounds, a technique Fragonard developed after studying Tiepolo in Venice.

The hat provides both a compositional accent and a vehicle for displaying Fragonard's virtuoso brushwork in rendering different textures. The face beneath is treated with greater delicacy and warmth.