Portrait of a Woman Near a Fountain, a Rose in Her Hand

1680–85

Portrait of a Woman Near a Fountain, a Rose in Her Hand, 1680–85. Johan Thopas (Dutch, 1630–1700). Lead point with accents in black ink on vellum; sheet: 22 x 18.7 cm (8 11/16 x 7 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2019.13 The Dutch artist Johann Thopas made meticulous drawn portraits of merchants and intellectuals in the Dutch city of Assendelft. His drawn portraits—made faster and for less expense than painted portraits—appealed to middle-class patrons, as did his unique style combining naturalistic likenesses with elaborate background settings. Using a combination of leadpoint and ink, Thopas achieved remarkable tonal subtlety in this image of a well-dressed woman holding a flower in front of an ornate neoclassical garden. The 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Thopas was both deaf and mute.