Focus on this artwork and explain the Description.
The work is notable for the distance that it establishes between viewer and subject. The setting is a sparsely decorated interior, featuring a tall bronze candelabrum fixed with an oil lamp, which has been extinguished and whose smoke drifts into the blackness of the space. A light from above provides some illumination, highlighting her perfectly spotless white dress. There is not much variation in color; only muted earthy tones of brown, green, and grey are present aside from the draperies of the model. Madame Récamier appears separate and distinct in her own space, a sparsely decorated setting with Classical furniture in the Pompeian style. The woman reclines on her French méridienne sofa, also known as a fainting couch, popular in the 19th century. Her pose suggest grace and elegance through the curvature delineated by the lines of her legs, back, and arm. The horizontal portrait format was innovative for its time, when vertical compositions were most common.The composition is unfinished, as indicated in the communications between the artist and Madame Récamier, as well as in undeveloped areas of the work. In letters that survive between Mme. Recamier and David, she says 'je serai à vos ordres pour la séance", meaning "I will be at your service for the session". However she was consistently late for her sittings and rather spoiled, leading to a quarrel between the model and artist, and the work was never retouched. Only Récamier's head is completely finished, with great detail given to each lock of hair, which has been finely styled and arranged, as well as her porcelain cheeks dabbed with rouge. Yet her dress lacks any highlights, and the accompanying furniture, floor, and background are rendered in loose brushstrokes. In some areas, the priming layer is visible.
sofa méridienne Pompeian Recamier couch