While Anita Rée was living in Positano from 1922 to 1925, from where she went on various trips to the south of Italy, female portraits became her main motif. For her drawings simple village women sat model. Anita Rée also prepared our portrait in several drawings, of which two pencil studies are known (Z 224, Z 225), one of them titled "ASSA" on the reverse side. In terms of style, the motionless immersion of the people depicted refers to the artist‘s examination of early Italian Renaissance works. However, Anita Rée found a unique way to perpetuate the portraits of women in her oeuvre. Last but not least, the hands of the portrayed person also play a very special role in the artist's portraits: enclosing cheeks and chin, they are an expression of both loving care and powerful strength, emphasizing Assa‘s essential characteristic traits. [EH]