Made by Antoine Watteau / Head of a Man / ca. 1718

Made by Antoine Watteau
Head of a Man
ca. 1718
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Creator Name: Watteau, Jean-Antoine
Creator Nationality: European; French
Creator Role: Artist
Creator Dates/Places: French, 1684-1721
Creator Name-CRT: Made by Antoine Watteau
Title: Head of a Man
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 1716
Creation End Date: 1720
Creation Date: ca. 1718
Object Type: Drawings and Watercolors
Materials and Techniques: red and black chalk
Dimensions: 5 7/8 x 5 3/16 in. (14.9 x 13.1 cm)
AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 37.165.107
Credit Line: Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1937
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/
Context:

This expressive sheet is a study for the man's head in Watteau's painting 'Mezzetin,' also in the Metropolitan Museum. Mezzetin was a character in the popular commedia dell'arte, typically amorous and sentimental. In the Museum's painting, he sits on a stone bench outside a building, playing a guitar and gazing plaintively at an unseen window. The artist placed a female garden statue in the woods behind the Mezzetin, its back turned to the actor, suggesting an unrequited love.

In this robust red and black study, Watteau established the angle of the head, the uplifted eyes, and the parted lips that he carried over into the painting. In its emotional force and the melding of the two colors of chalk, this sheet recalls the precedent of Rubens, an artist much admired by Watteau.

AMICA ID: MMA_.37.165.107
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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