Rijksmuseum

Twee mannenhoofden, twee armen met een blokfluit en een kind

Date

1705 - 1716

Medium

paper, chalk

Institution

Rijksmuseum

At the lower right of this study sheet, Watteau depicted two arms and hands holding a recorder. With red chalk alone, the artist exaggerated the bony fingers just enough to capture the delicate tension necessary for playing the instrument. The arms were likely added afterwards to give context to the hands, which explains the anatomically implausible distance between the shoulders.

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