Focus on Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight and discuss the Genre and composition.
Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight would have been described in the late eighteenth century as a "fancy picture", a type of picture between portraiture and works with a historical or literary theme. It depicts two upper-class girls, probably sisters, who have put aside their doll in order to dress up their kitten instead.
The most notable feature of the painting is Wright's skillful use of chiaroscuro, the contrast of light and dark, a technique in which he specialised, here seen in the play of the candlelight on the figures of the girls. The English portrait painter James Northcote, who was a contemporary of Wright, called him "the most famous painter now living for candle-lights" and Wright's use of contrasts in this picture has been compared to the Utrecht Caravaggism of the religious paintings of Gerard van Honthorst, inspired also by French painter Georges de La Tour, which was the master in describing the candlelight on figures. Wright was also known for his close attention to detail which here may be seen in the careful depiction of the girls dresses, their doll, the necklace, and the bonnet on the kitten.
portraiture Utrecht Caravaggism chiaroscuro Gerard van Honthorst James Northcote Georges de La Tour