As a Special Privilege the Zealot Bore it in Blazing 1903

Jessie Willcox Smith made this drawing, As a Special Privilege the Zealot Bore it in Blazing, with what looks like charcoal and pastel. The slightly muted, almost sepia tones give it a feeling of both something historical, and also, a bit dreamlike, like a memory. I'm struck by how the artist built up the image from a series of hatched and blended marks. Look closer, and you can see how the form of the woman is achieved through a kind of delicate layering. It's like Smith is feeling her way into the image, carefully adding shadow and light to give it volume and depth. The dress has this quality, and the soft rendering creates the sense of gravity to the fabric. The only real colour is in the flames licking around whatever it is she is carrying into the room, and those tones of orange are what give the piece its heat, literally and figuratively. It makes me think of Edwardian portraiture, but also someone like Paula Rego, who explored the unsettling aspects of domestic life. In the end, it stays with you, like a half-remembered tale.