Seybold's Old Woman

Super-detailed realism is not just a recent idea--it has been around for a while. This oil painting of an old woman is by Christian Seybold (1695-1768). He was a German artist active in Vienna in the Baroque period.


Even when you zoom way into the eye, the detail keeps on going. He has carefully rendered the delicate  overlapping wrinkles around the eye, and he has captured the redness inside the folds.


Compare to this detail of an eye from a Sargent self portrait.
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High-rez file of this image on Wikipedia Commons
The painting is in Dresden at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister 
Thanks, Keita
Previously on GurneyJourney:

Color Zones of the Face

Softness in Eyes (Van Dyck, Loomis, and Sargent)

Eye Highlights

Simplicity in Painting the Eye