Das Schokoladenmädchen

about 1744

Pastel on parchment, 32 1/2 × 20 3/4 in. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

A servant carrying chocolate, drawn full length in pastel with no visible stroke: the soft medium pushed to the finish of glass and porcelain.

Look at

One figure in profile against a blank pale wall and floor: no setting, almost no shadow.
Four large areas of colour — ochre bodice, white apron, blue-grey skirt, pink cap — each modelled only by the light on its folds.
The glass of water on the tray is drawn so the wall shows through it, as crisp as anything on the sheet.

Bought from Liotard in Venice in 1745 by Francesco Algarotti for the collection of Augustus III of Saxony; the sitter is not identified.
Rosalba Carriera called it the most beautiful pastel ever seen.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain