Parsing the Message of First Lady's New Portrait

The White House unveiled the official portrait of first lady Melania Trump on Monday, a black-and-white photo shot by Belgium photographer Régine Mahaux. Some of the assessments:

• All business: The BBC has Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, faculty director for the Department of History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, suss things out. "Her pose, with fingertips placed firmly on a remarkably reflective table, seems to communicate a readiness to 'get down to business.' ... The message of this picture is that the first lady has moved from the marginal space of the family quarters to the room just above the Oval Office."
• Turned tables: At CNN, Leah Dolan writes that the contrast between this photo and her first portrait, shot in color in 2017, is striking. "Where there was once a wistful Mona Lisa-style facial expression—lips parted enough to suggest a smile or a grimace, depending on perspective—now there is no room for interpretation. With her mouth closed, Trump is firm and resolute. This time, the tables have turned (literally). Instead, it appears that the first lady is analyzing you."

• The vibe: The New York Post similarly sees it as a "power pose," with the first lady dressed in a dark suit. "In contrast to the smile in Melania's full-color 2017 portrait, also shot by Mahaux, the first lady's lips are closed in a serious expression this time around," writes Diana Glebova.
• The 'real clue:' For the Guardian, Morwenna Ferrier writes that the first lady looks poised to "step out of the shadows" in her second go-round. "Which is why the real clue is behind her," she writes, referring to the Washington Monument. "The famous obelisk is less a symbol of American democracy like the Statue of Liberty, and more a symbol of American power. Jutting up into the air of the imperial capital, it's rigid, coolly austere and carries an air of menace."

(More Melania Trump stories.)