Portrait of the artist's mother, Ida Emilie Ulrikke Henriette Bloch, née Weitzmann

In terms of media and genre, this inconspicuous portrait from the artist’s innermost private sphere is far removed from his public history paintings, which established his reputation as a monumental and nationally minded painter some ten to twenty years previously. Through studies of Rembrandt’s etchings, Bloch assimilated the Baroque era’s fascination with effects of light and shadow, maintaining his habitual stylistic orientation while working in the medium of graphic art. His portrayal of his mother posits itself within an international vocabulary of style.