Emma Fordyce MacRae

In Beatrice, the rich pattern of the sitter’s blue and red dress and her copper hair are set against a muted palette of olives and browns. There may or may not be an underlying theme here relating to Italy or Italian history as the domed structure visible through the window in the background resembles the church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice (which MacRae also painted), and makes a connection to the Madonna sculpture. Beatrice’s name is associated with the Renaissance; she was the Beatrice beloved of the poet Dante. Even the anemones in the bowl grow wild in the fields outside Rome. As one critic wrote about this painting, “It is possible to distinguish a relation to the great Perugino, Raphael’s master.”18 At the same time, though, Beatrice’s dress and hairstyle put her in the twentieth century. Rather than giving the composition a dated feeling, however, this back and forth between the contemporary and the historic again creates timelessness in Emma Fordyce MacRae’s work.