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Jean Antoine Watteau (1684–1721)
Head of a Woman, Turned Three-Quarters to the Right, ca. 1717
Red and black chalks
2 3/4 x 2 1/2 inches (70 x 65 mm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Kramarsky in memory of Lola and Siegfried Kramarsky on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Morgan Library and the 50th anniversary of the Association of Fellows; 2008.8
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Watteau's paintings were based on numerous sketches that he mixed and matched in a variety of compositions. This head, originally part of a larger sheet of similar studies, was used for the woman at the center of Pilgrimage to Cythera, one of the artist's most celebrated paintings (known in two versions—one in the Louvre, Paris, and the other in Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin). The subtle rendering of the features is characteristic of Watteau's style, as is the free, light, and expressive touch of the soft chalk.

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