The young woman has just got up and is getting dressed. As she laces up her undergarment she casts a glance over her shoulder, smiles, and likes what she sees—what she sees in the mirror. For she is not looking at the viewer, but at herself, and seeing the same image we see. The motif of looking in the mirror is ancient: Narcissus, the youth from Greek mythology fell in love with his own reflection, and Venus, the classical goddess of love, also gazed at her own image. Reiter was probably inspired by the latter. However, he does not show his Venus naked, but in Biedermeier attire. Reiter was one of the few painters in the Biedermeier period who dared to depict erotic scenes.
Credit: 2004 Leihgabe des Vereins der Freunde der Österreichischen Galerie Belvedere
Not on display