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Head of a Man

ca. 1718
Not on view
This expressive sheet is a study for the man's head in Watteau's painting Mezzetin, also in the Museum's collection (34.138). Mezzetin was a character in the popular commedia dell'arte, typically amorous and sentimental. In the Museum's painting, he sits on a stone bench outside a building, playing a guitar and gazing plaintively at an unseen window. The artist placed a female garden statue in the woods behind the Mezzetin, its back turned to the actor, suggesting an unrequited love. In this robust red and black study, Watteau established the angle of the head, the uplifted eyes, and the parted lips that were carried over into the painting. In its emotional force and the melding of the two colors of chalk, this sheet recalls the precedent of Rubens, an artist much admired by Watteau.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Head of a Man
  • Artist: Antoine Watteau (French, Valenciennes 1684–1721 Nogent-sur-Marne)
  • Date: ca. 1718
  • Medium: Red and black chalk
  • Dimensions: 5 7/8 x 5 3/16 in. (14.9 x 13.1 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1937
  • Object Number: 37.165.107
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Mezzetin, Antoine Watteau French, Oil on canvas
Mezzetin
Antoine Watteau
ca. 1718–20
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso), Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia) Italian, Pen and brown ink, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (recto); pen and brown ink, brush with touches of brown wash, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (verso)
Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso)
Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia)
1435–38
Figures françoises et comiques nouvellement inventées par M. Watteau; Figures de modes dessinées et gravées à l'eau forte par Watteau; a terminées au buin par Thomassin le fils, Antoine Watteau French
Figures françoises et comiques nouvellement inventées par M. Watteau; Figures de modes dessinées et gravées à l'eau forte par Watteau; a terminées au buin par Thomassin le fils
Multiple artists/makers
1710?–?1720
Guitar, Jean-Baptiste Voboam French, Spruce, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, ebony, French
Guitar
attributed to Jean-Baptiste Voboam
1697

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