Woman with Spectacles

This arresting portrait of a bespectacled woman standing before a window has charmed members of the Harvard community for decades. Her steady gaze and the detailed depiction of her hair, jewelry, and black tailored gown convey agency and intelligence. These specific elements of self-fashioning demonstrate Prior’s skill in representing the rich inner lives of his subjects through their surroundings and the objects they wear and hold. The resemblance of the subject’s dress to academic and priestly robes has inspired new research. Harvard Art Museums curators are exploring the possibility that our subject may have lived around Albany, New York, and either attended or led one of the institutions for higher education for women in the region. We are also investigating the possibility that the portrait is an early example of Prior’s “spirit effect” portraits, in which he painted from memory posthumous portraits of indivi-duals who influenced him.