Who are you, lovely lady?

"Lady with Hat and Feather Boa"
Gustav Klimt

There's a certain mystery to nearly any woman in any painting. I don't know whether it's simply a matter of trying to capture life on canvas, or the nature of the subject itself that renders such mystery and lends itself to unending curiosity.
When I look at her, I can't help but wonder. Who is she? Where is she? Where is she going? What is she doing? At what is she looking?
No matter who or what she is, though, I still want to be her. She's lovely, and will be forever perfect, thanks to Klimt...
Whoever this woman is, she's immortalized in this painting.

And we can all say, "wouldn't it be nice?" and think about the possibilities when we don't know the truth. We get to invent and dream because for us, the reality doesn't exist. In fiction and paintings we can dream...


But when we discover the reality, we probably no longer want to be the subject of the lovely paintings. When we see things for what they really are, there's no more room to hope.
Which is better? The possibility of a lie or a truth that kills our dreams?

All I know is that I want to look at this painting beyond the composition and layout...and see the woman...and I want to wonder. I want her mystery to remain, because isn't that wherein most of the beauty lies, anyway?