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The drawing depicts a person standing with their weight shifted to one leg. The person is turned slightly to the side, with one hand holding an object over their shoulder, while the other hand rests on their hip. The face is sketched with closed lips, and the person's hair appears to be tied back or covered. The person wears a long coat or robe, trousers, and boots. There is no visible jewelry. The sketch includes faint facial features to the upper right and marks in the lower right corner. The background is plain, emphasizing the hand-drawn nature of the image with visible paper texture and creases.
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The drawing depicts a person standing with their weight shifted to one leg. The person is turned slightly to the side, with one hand holding an object over their shoulder, while the other hand rests on their hip. The face is sketched with closed lips, and the person's hair appears to be tied back or covered. The person wears a long coat or robe, trousers, and boots. There is no visible jewelry. The sketch includes faint facial features to the upper right and marks in the lower right corner. The background is plain, emphasizing the hand-drawn nature of the image with visible paper texture and creases.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

A Comic Actor Dressed as a Gentleman [recto]

Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater

Date
c. 1729
Medium
red chalk on 2 joined sheets of laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 22.9 x 23.2 cm (9 x 9 1/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
1996.25.1.a
Credit line
Gift of Neil and Ivan Phillips
Time span
1726 to 1750
Department
CG-E
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • French
  • occupation
  • genre
  • male
  • figure
  • literary and theatrical themes
  • secular
  • Rococo
  • Actor
  • Le Roman Comique
Provenance

Camille Groult [1837-1908]; (sale, Paris, 18 December 1941, lot 39);[1] Jacques Mathey, Paris, by 1957; (sale, New York, Christie's, 10 January 1996, lot 198); purchased by NGA, 1996. [1] Provenance in Christie's 10 January 1996 sale catalogue indicates this was lot 39 in a Paris sale on 18 December 1941. Research has uncovered only one Hotel Drouot sale on that date, and lot 39 in that sale catalogue does not correspond in title, dimensions nor medium. There is nothing in the object file to clarify this discrepancy.

Inscription

by later hand, center right in graphite, erased: 24 / 20 / 10 / 120

Watermarks

crescent moon (partial watermark)

NGA object ID 94478. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.