Hoofd van een jonge vrouw 18th century

Van der Straalen's pencil sketch, "Head of a Young Woman," raises intriguing questions about artistic training and the representation of women. This work likely served as a study, perhaps within the context of an academy or private studio. These institutions shaped artistic production by establishing norms for acceptable subject matter, styles, and techniques. The young woman's averted gaze and soft features are in line with conventional depictions of female beauty. But we might also ask, who was this woman? Was she a professional model? Or a member of the artist's social circle? Recovering such details requires archival research into the artist's life, the social history of modeling, and the institutional structures that supported artistic production in the Netherlands at the time. Such research could reveal whether this image reinforces or challenges the social norms of its day.