Description
This sheet was a preparatory study for the painting The Romancer. An actor in the costume of Mezzetin, a stock character of the commedia dell’arte (a type of satirical theatrical entertainment of Italian origin popular in aristocratic circles in 18th-century France), interrupts a guitarist with a bold sexual advance. Another actor dressed as the French pantomime stock character Pierrot peers lasciviously over the young musician’s shoulder. A more detailed study of Pierrot’s head occupies the upper left corner of the sheet, demonstrating Jean Antoine Watteau’s experimentation with how to most effectively depict a lecherous gaze.
Provenance
Andrew James, London (?-?); Sarah Ann James, London (?-1891); (her sale, London, Christie's, June 22-23, 1891, no. 334) (1891); (Agnew, London) (?-?); (Richard Owen, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) (?-1928); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1928-)
Accession Number
1928.661
Medium
red chalk; red and black chalk (upper left figure)
Dimensions
Sheet: 35 x 27.5 cm (13 3/4 x 10 13/16 in.); Secondary Support: 35.1 x 27.8 cm (13 13/16 x 10 15/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund