Two Pilgrims and a Standing Woman in Profile, ca. 1709 – 1712

About the Work

Watteau often drew from models that moved around the studio as casually as possible. The central one of the three figures in this drawing was included in the painting "The Embarkation for Cythera". The men are drawn as pilgrims with a shoulder throw and a travel stick, who want to set off with their companions to the island of Venus, the goddess of love. The sensitive interaction between the lovers corresponds to the masterly way of drawing, in which the red chalk with the finest touches and powerful accents, with dense and open shadow zones, lets the figures be suggestively created from within rather than describe them.