Maria Wernier

Bürckmann is one of the late 18th century miniature painters in Holland who were highly talented but are less well known due to the small number of their works.¹ He probably had to travel to obtain a sufficient number of commissions. His portraits are characterised by the orange-red colour in the face of his sitters, the precisely drawn dark-brown contours of their eyes and mouth, and the green-blue shades. It is not known with whom Bürckmann studied the art of miniature painting.² The background, which is painted in near-black with a lot of binder, is reminiscent of Isabey’s miniatures, whereas other portraits in front of a cloudy sky in translucent colours remind one instead of the English school. The lady from the Dutch family Wernier is facing to the right with a smile. Her head is turned towards the source of light. The shadows on her cheeks and chin were softened to reduce the volume of her face.
B. P.