Around a table in a ramshackle Roman courtyard, a group of men are united in a round of the Italian betting game of morra. The two competitors flash a certain number of fingers on their right hands while guessing out loud the total number that will be presented by both players. The intensity of play is reflected in the face of the man at center, closely counting the players’ fingers, while the woman washing a child’s bottom at left reveals the utter indifference of those outside the game.
Jean Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805), The Game of Morra, 1756. Pen and brown ink and wash with gray wash over graphite. Thaw Collection, 2017.109