Die Dame mit den Juwelen

Courbet painted this in 1867, and the red-haired woman turning a pearl necklace in her fingers was a real celebrity of the moment. She is Blanche d'Antigny, one of the most talked-about courtesans of Second Empire Paris, the sort of woman whose jewels and lovers filled the gossip of the day. She was later remembered as one of the figures Emile Zola drew on for Nana, his novel about a courtesan's rise and ruin. Here she is not performing, though. She holds the open jewel box and looks into the lid, maybe at a small mirror, and her expression has gone somewhere private and a little sad. Courbet keeps the background dark so all the light gathers on her skin and the pale fabric at her breast.