Portrait of a Lady in Blue

Portrait of a Lady in Blue (1780) by Thomas Gainsborough. Its palette is led by soot (#130b0e, 47%) and dark brown (#382c21, 18%), with accents of warm grey, stone and dark muted azure teal. Overall the canvas is dark, muted and warm.

Color reading

Black and brown cover nearly nine-tenths of the canvas. Even its most colorful tone, dark muted azure teal #34515E, stays close to gray.

Palette

#130b0e MG 223 soot 46.6% of canvas
#382c21 MG 169 dark brown 17.7% of canvas
#898579 MG 174 warm grey 11.5% of canvas
#ccb9a6 MG 163 pale tan 7.9% of canvas
#675c4d MG 175 stone 7.1% of canvas
#e8d5c4 MG 201 parchment 5.6% of canvas
#34515e MG 084 dark muted azure teal 3.7% of canvas

Color families

Black 51%, Brown 35%, Gray 6%, White 5%, Blue 3%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.37
Contrast: 0.70
Vividness: 0.017
Warmth: +0.69
Complexity: 139 cells
Hue range: 0.40
Focus: 0.23

Composition

51% of the visual weight is in the left half, 59% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.77 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 44% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 22% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1780
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 76.5 × 63.5 cm
Genre: portrait
Collection: Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

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More by Thomas Gainsborough

Mr and Mrs Andrews, 1748
The Blue Boy, 1770