Seated Youth in Profile
18th century
Medium
Red chalk on cream laid paper
Dimensions
18.6 × 16.7 cm (7 3/8 × 6 5/8 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
82295
Art Historical Context
This delicate red chalk drawing, titled *Seated Youth in Profile*, captures a quiet moment of contemplation from 18th-century Italy. Created by an unknown artist on cream laid paper, the work measures just under 19 centimeters in height, inviting close inspection of its intimate scale. Red chalk, or sanguine, was a favored medium during this period for its warm, velvety tones and ability to render soft transitions of light and shadow, making it ideal for figure studies that explored anatomy, posture, and expression. Such drawings reflect the academic traditions of Italian art education, where...