The painting is beautiful, vibrant with color, with heavy black lines like the leadings in a stained glass window.
In this painting she is examining and inspecting her appearance in a mirror, but Marie-Theresa and her reflection are not identical.
The girl white-haloed profile, rendered in smooth lavender pink, appears serene. The painting suggests Walter’s day-self and her night-self, her tranquility and her vitality, but also her transition from innocent girl to a worldly woman aware of her own sexuality.
Girl before a Mirror by Picasso
