Young Woman in the Atrical Costume

New tendencies appeared in portraiture at the beginning of the 18th century, part of a desire to make the sitter look more natural. This can be seen in the work of Grimou, whose paintings tend more towards the entertaining than the formal. This pretty, somewhat coquettish girl in a semi-fantastical Spanish costume appears in a number of his works. The restrained colour sceme is evidence of the strong influence of the 17th-century Dutch and Flemish masters, and contemporaries sometimes called Grimou "the French Rembrandt", somewhat exaggerating his importance and talent. The artist did not found a new trend in painting, but he did introduce a number of new motifs to portraiture.

Credit: Entered the Hermitage in 1905; formerly in the Hermitage Pavilion at Peterhof