About the Work
The light pentimenti on the figures of the dancing girl and the sitting bagpipe player indicate that this is in preparation for a composition. The dancer appears again, slightly modified, in two almost identical paintings, “The Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca” (National Gallery, London), dated 1648, and “The Mill” (Galleria Doria Pamphili, Rome) from the same year (MRP 113). Her Greek chiton reveals that she is not a contemporary dancer. The sitting musician does not appear in the two paintings and was probably discarded before the composition was finalised. A bagpipe player can be found in several earlier variations of the rural dance theme on which the painting of 1648 is based. In accordance with Claude’s practice, the animals and landscape must have been added later to make this sketch an independent composition completed with brown wash. The thin lines in red chalk, which are largely concealed by the dancer, could be preparatory strokes for an academic figure study. On the back of the sheet the legs of another academic study are still visible.
