Satyr Pouring Wine

Watteau rarely made drawings as studies for specific paintings, but this vigorous study of a satyr with two wineskins is an exception. It relates directly to a series of paintings of the Four Seasons, now lost but recorded in prints, commissioned for the dining room of his patron Pierre Crozat. The paintings were intended to be viewed from below, which dictated the curve of the satyr’s body and his intense downward gaze. The drawing is executed in Watteau’s signature trois crayons technique. This combination of red, black and white chalks relates closely to works by Rubens.