Emma Van Nameca. 1805
A small girl in a white dress poses with a goblet and strawberries, painted by Joshua Johnson of Baltimore around 1805. More about this work
About this work
A small girl in a white dress poses with a goblet and strawberries, painted by Joshua Johnson of Baltimore around 1805. Johnson, among the earliest known professional portrait painters of African descent in the United States, advertised himself as self-taught and worked for the merchant families of Maryland. His portraits of children, with their large eyes, crisp outlines and carefully placed props, have a solemn charm, and the fruit adds a note of sweetness and innocence.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 2016.116
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- The American Wing
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
