Study of a Woman's Hands

Using broadly applied black chalk, Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen suggested deep shadows at the waist, where this young woman folds her soft hands. Subtle highlights pick up the gleam of the pearl strands looped around her wrists and the shimmering highlights on her skin and sleeves. With few strokes, only two colors, and much use of blank paper, Janssens effectively rendered both texture and volume.

Janssens probably learned the technique of drawing hand studies in chalks on blue paper from Anthony van Dyck while both artists were in London. The pinholes along the drawing's outer edge suggest that he attached the sheet of paper to a board or easel as he drew the sitter's hands from life. He made this study in preparation for a half-length portrait painting.

Scholars know little about the subject, referred to as "Jefrow Raphune" in the inscription at the bottom of the drawing. She must have been a married woman from the northern Netherlands; it was the custom in that area to wear one's wedding ring on the right index finger, as she does. The two elaborate rings and expensive pearls suggest that she was a relatively wealthy member of the landed gentry.