Berthe Morisot
(1841–1895)

 

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot was a French painter, printmaker and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berthe_Morisot

The Psyche Mirror
1876
oil on canvas
65 × 54 cm
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain
https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/morisot-berthe/psyche-mirror

 

At first sight, the connection between Morisot's painting and the Greek myth of Psyche seems to be far-fetched. The woman depicted does not really come across as someone from the Greek mythology. There is no trace of her beloved Amor either. Nevertheless, at the time when Morisot made this work, the current image was closely associated with her maker. Morisot had married Eugène Manet, younger brother of the painter Édouard Manet, in 1874. She had just entered a new phase in her life, where she would try to reconcile her existence as a wife and later as a mother with being an artist, which would cost her a lot of effort.