Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Portrait of a Man in Profile

Nicolas Lagneau
approximately 1590-1666

Portrait of a Man in Profile

ca. 1625
10 1/4 x 13 11/16 inches (261 x 348 mm)
Black chalk, brown-red chalk, on tan paper; upper corners cut.
III, 67

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.

Notes
This is one of a large body of quasi-portrait drawings of peasants and laborers that are often identified as the work of Nicolas Lagneau, but it is not clear who the artist was, whether he was really named Nicolas, or whether the various drawings are actually the work of a single artist. It is also difficult to determine if these depictions are examples of blunt realism, or if their visages are accentuated or even imagined, giving credence to the pseudoscience of grotesque physiognomy. They reveal, nonetheless, a taste among artists and collectors for portrayals of the faces and expressions of those in the humbler ranks of society.
Pierpont Morgan acquired this sheet when he agreed in 1909 to purchase the Fairfax Murray collection of 1500 drawings. Fairfax Murray also obtained a second drawing by the artist at the sale of the Thibaudeau collection. That sheet was sold by Fairfax Murray to the dealers C&E Canessa, Naples and Paris, who in turn sold it to Morgan in 1907 (see I, 67a).
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed on verso in graphite at upper right, "L'Agneau".
Watermark: Grapes within double circle, inscribed "Colonbier" (cf. Heawood 2427: France, after 1654).
Associated names
Thibaudeau, Alphonse Wyatt, 1840-1893, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. P. (John Pierpont), 1867-1943, former owner.
Bibliography
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, III, 67, repr.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department