Studies of a Woman Wearing a Cap
ca. 1717–18
Medium
Black and red chalk, heightened with a little white.
Dimensions
7 1/4 x 8 1/16 in. (18.4 x 20.5 cm) including a 1.3 cm strip added at lower margin
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Therese Kuhn Straus, in memory of her husband, Herbert N. Straus, 1978
Accession Number
1978.12.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Antoine Watteau, a of the French Rococo, created *Studies of a Woman Wearing Cap* around 1717–18, the height of his career. Known for his dreamy *fêtes galantes*—elegant outdoor scenes of lovers and performers—this intimate drawing captures the subtle grace of everyday femininity. Rendered in profile, the woman's delicate features and ornate cap reflect the fashionable silhouettes of early 18th-century France evoking the refined world of the aristocracy that Watteau so poetically depicted. Executed in black and red chalk heightened with touches of white on a modest 7¼ × 8¹/₁₆-inch sheet, the ...
About the Artist
Antoine Watteau · 1684–1721
Jean-Antoine Watteau, born in 1684 in Valenciennes to a modest family—his father a roofer named Jean-Philippe Watteau—was the second of four sons who displayed an early passion for art. After initial apprenticeship under local painter Jacques-Albert Gérin, he moved to Paris around 1702, working in workshops copying Flemish and Dutch genre scenes. By 1705, he entered the studio of Claude Gillot, ab...