A Boy seated Drawing

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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Despite the title, the boy is not drawing but studying a sketchbook – there’s no sign of drawing implements. In front of him is a cast of the Christ Child from Michelangelo’s statue of the Virgin and Child (Church of Our Lady, Bruges) and another book of sketches, but the drawing we see on the open page clearly does not represent the face of the cast. The artist reverses our normal expectations by suggesting that the cast is studying the young artist immersed in his book, rather than the other way around.

This picture is probably an early copy of a painting in the Louvre, Paris, attributed to Wallerant Vaillant (though the work has also been attributed to Jan Lievens). Vaillant, a portraitist who was born in Lille but died in Amsterdam, depicted young artists sketching casts several times.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A Boy seated Drawing

Date

probably 1700-1800

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 127 x W 99.5 cm

Accession number

NG3591

Acquisition method

Presented by Mr and Mrs J.G. Lousada through The Art Fund to the Tate Gallery, 1921; transferred, 1922

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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