Dark Matters - Alphonse Legros - Head and Shoulders of a Girl

Alphonse Legros - Head and Shoulders of a Girl, a photo by Miriam Ward on Flickr.

I think perhaps the gallery notes influenced my view of this painting, however this one jumped out at me due to the almost photographic quality of this painting, and interestingly only the had has been painted in detail, the shoulders and torso being very simply sketched. There is certainly something unsettling about the stare of the girl and the set of her face. The gallery notes make reference to the shadow, which I think make the viewer perhaps form their own story behind the etching.