A young reader in a yellow dress

Lost in her book

A young woman in a yellow dress sits in profile, reading a small book she holds up in one hand. The tapestry is based on a well-known reading scene by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

She leans back against a large cushion, one arm resting along the chair, completely absorbed. The yellow of her dress is the brightest thing in the picture, set between the dark greenish background and the pinkish brown of the cushion. Pale ruffles at her collar and cuff and a ribbon in her hair add finer detail.

Everything points to the book

The book itself is tiny, but everything points to it: the turn of her head, her raised hand, her lowered eyes. Turning a painting like this into needlework means finding stitches for soft brushwork, and the folds of the yellow dress show how carefully that was done.