Young Woman with a Turban (c. 1780): Art, History and Details

Young Woman with a Turban (c. 1780) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Known as a tête d'expression or "expressive head," this painting represents an essential part of the academic training of history painters who specialized in religious, mythological, or historical subjects. In 1760, such exercises became standard at the École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Paris, then known as Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Focusing on the relationship between morality and beauty, the goal of a history painter is not only to create a pleasing image, but also to represent the emotions of the soul.

Object facts

• Title: Young Woman with a Turban
• Date: c. 1780
• Creator attribution: Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)
• Culture: France
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 76 x 66 x 8 cm (29 15/16 x 26 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 55.2 x 46 cm (21 3/4 x 18 1/8 in.)
• Collection: P - French 18th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1952.542

A detail from the museum

The high quality of this painting was of such renown that David’s students requested permission to copy it.

Collection credit

Gift of George S. Kendrick

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lajer-Burcharth, Ewa, and Jacques Louis David. Necklines: The Art of Jacques-Louis David After the Terror. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1999.
• Didot, Lacoste, Gibé, and Henry. Catalogue d'une précieuse collection de tableaux choisis dans toutes les écoles anciennes et modernes. Paris: Se distribué ... chez M. Lacoste, commissaire-priseur, M. Gibé, commissaire-priseur, M. Henry, commissaire-expert des Musées royaux, 1825.
• David, J. L. Jules. Le peintre Louis David, 1748-1825; souvenirs & documents inédits. Paris: V. Havard, 1880.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.