Portrait of the artist's wife in a Pompeiian costume

This portrait by Mariano Fortuny Madrazo — the Venetian designer and son of the celebrated Spanish painter — depicts his wife Henriette Nigrin in Pompeiian costume, painted in 1935. Fortuny, while primarily known for his pleated Delphos gowns and rich printed velvets, was also a skilled painter throughout his life. His paintings draw on the same sources as his textile and theatrical work: classical antiquity, the Byzantine world, and the Renaissance. The Pompeiian costume worn by Henriette reflects the cultural fascination with ancient Rome that had run through European art since the eighteenth century. The Museo Fortuny in the Palazzo Pesaro degli Orfei was the couple's home and studio; after her death she ensured the contents passed to Venice as a museum. The intimacy of a husband painting his wife in historical dress gives the portrait an unusual quality: at once documentation of a private life and a statement about the inseparability of aesthetic vision from domestic existence.

Painted on panel, the portrait reflects Fortuny's assured technique, combining careful attention to fabric and costume detail with a relatively free handling of the face and background. The color harmonies show his textile designer's eye.