Pastel on vintage sheet music — Violin Sonata by César Franck. This portrait was created for the Portrait of Elise Mathilde award.The Elise Mathilde Foundation in collaboration with De Nederlandse Portretprijs. Elise Mathilde is a Dutch philanthropist and the founder of the Elise Mathilde Foundation. She is also known for her collection of violins — and that’s why I chose to draw her portrait on the sheet music of César Franck’s Violin Sonata. I painted this work in my unique author's technique: soft pastel on vintage book and music pages. The notes, more than a century old, seem to breathe through her face — as if she once heard them, played them, or simply dreamed to their rhythm. Her gaze is a pause full of sound.