This is an oil painting of Princess Mary of Denmark, painted in 2005 by Jiawei Shen.
The gold framed portrait is approximately two point five metres high and one point five metres wide a full length portrait of Princess Mary bathed in natural light.
To the left a large ivory and burnished gold column on an imposing rectangular base. The ivory shaft of the column disappears up and out past the portraits top edge.
Directly behind Mary is the corner of a room whose walls are a mixture of peach, muted yellow and hints of green. On our right is a sweeping view of the Sydney Opera House.
The bay and the Opera House are elegantly obscured by gossamer curtain floating ever so lightly back into the interior where Mary is standing.
On the floor large square tiles in gold, peach and green issues are separated by darker grout. They dissolve on a diagonal out to the right, into the view of the sea and the Opera House, as if Mary is standing on a balcony high above the water.
Mary is angled towards us, facing the window, her right cheek is turned as though we have just said something engaging her attention.
Her dark brown shoulder length hair is combed off her face, swept behind her ears with the weight of the soft girls resting on her right shoulder.
She has hazel eyes and sculpted brows. Her right eyebrow raised slightly higher than the left. She has a porcelain complexion and pink lips. All of her features accentuated by artfully applied makeup.
Her mouth is open in the hint of a smile, straight white teeth only just visible. From her ears hang diamonds and blue sapphires, each comprising five equally sized clusters of teardrops. Her earrings perfectly match the blue of her dress.
The "V" shape neckline of her sea blue sleeveless dress follows the gentle curve of her breasts. A length of ruched dark fabric twines around her slight torso, and the light blue of her bodice. At the hips another wrap of the same fabric meets the bottom splayed edges of a thin formal sash that falls from her left shoulder down her right hip, were a tiny white elephant is suspended.
She clasps her hands loosely in front, elbow slightly bent, though her left arm is out of view. A ring with a large sea blue sapphire rests on the ring finger of her right hand. The pleated folds of her full length skirt fall in swathes from her hips to the floor obscuring her feet. The skirt's light fabric catches the same slight breeze passing through the curtain from outside.
Audio description written by Emma Bedford and voiced by Carol Wellman Kelly
