Konrad Mägi needed something or someone to paint who wouldn’t be overly familiar and domestic, as then the surprise and slight shock might be lessened. Therefore, he often painted people who were not Estonians: Germans, Roma, or Jews. We don’t know who this woman is. Was she perhaps a close acquaintance of Konrad Mägi, as Mägi knew many Jews personally and enjoyed telling Jewish jokes in their company? Or is she someone unknown – someone who intrigued Mägi more for her appearance than anything else?

However, it is worth noting the pose and gaze of the Jewish woman. She is self-assured, there is something unapproachable and unyielding in her demeanor. Even her attire is not as decorative as in the rest of Mägi’s portraits, but rather scant and austere. It gives the impression that Mägi saw in this Jewish woman someone he didn’t usually see when portraying women: an independent, emancipated individual.

And then there are those clouds behind the model. A strange juxtaposition where the foreground is realistic, but the background is fantastical. In the salon photography of that time, this was common: the model was asked to stand in front of a painted backdrop, creating the impression that she was only partially connected to our reality, entering into a fairy tale instead.

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