Invention of the Art of Drawing

1791

Oil on canvas, 105 × 51 3/4 in. Groeningemuseum, Bruges

A young woman traces a young man's shadow on a wall, the ancient story of how drawing began: outline as the origin of art.

Look at

A single lamp at right throws a sharp black profile onto the wall at left.
The pale dress is the brightest shape in a dark room, lit from the same lamp.
On the tall, narrow canvas the figures fill the lower half, and a dark wall with heavy beams rises above them.

Musea Brugge links the subject to the fashion for silhouette portraits and to texts by Pliny.
The museum also owns a small oil sketch for the picture.

Image: Musea Brugge, Groeningemuseum · Public Domain Mark 1.0