Germaine at her Toilette

This pastel portrait of Jean-François Raffaëlli’s eight-year- old daughter Germaine captures her youthful awkwardness as she prepares to wash. She stands still in rumpled stockings and a wrinkled petticoat, distracted for a moment before beginning her routine. Her plain attire and blank expression contrast with the elegance of her surroundings, which include a finely decorated china toilette set and a gauzy, lace-edged red cloth.