The Middle Grade Gallery is back with a three-part question about this compelling portrait, now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Here is a written description of the portrait sitting, from a Newbery Medal-winning middle grade novel:
Master said I was to wear my everday clothes, only he gave me a large white collar with deep points, lace-edged (one of his own), to set off the somber darkness of my dress and my dusky complexion.
He placed me before him, told me to look directly at him, and to clasp my cloak so that it should fall over at my left shoulder.
And of the finished portrait, from the same source:
There I stood, looking at myself, as if in a mirror. All apart from the likeness, which was startling (Master had no peer at that), the composition was harmonious and impressive in typical Spanish fashion, and yet there was an unusual glow of golden light around my head and on my skin, and an inner content which I can scarcely describe, It was as if Master had painted what you see on the outside, and also, just as clearly, what was there in the inside...the thoughts inside my head.
This portrait also plays an important role in a 2011 ALA Award-winning picture book (I'm not saying which award, or which book, obviously!). Can you name
- the artist and subject of this portrait,
- the title and author of the Newbery Medal winner quoted, and
- the title and author of this year's relevant ALA Award winner?
Bonus points for the adjective that best describes the expression on his face. You don't even have to answer the other questions!