Study of a Seated Woman

Jean-Baptiste Pater modeled this figure and her voluminous dress with short, hatched lines. The down-to-earth woman reflects his strong interest in Flemish painting and the Flemish enthusiasm for depictions of the everyday life of common people. Like his mentor Jean-Antoine Watteau, Pater filled notebooks with studies of figures in varied poses and costumes for later use in his paintings. Pater made this characteristic red chalk drawing as a study for a mother and child in a now-lost painting showing troops resting in the countryside.