Two Male Heads, Two Arms with a Recorder, and a Child

• Two Male Heads, Two Arms with a Recorder, and a Child
• Crouching Child, Two Male Heads, One Wearing a Beret, Arms and Hands of A Recorder-Player

RP-T-1961-96

At the lower right of this study sheet, Watteau depicted two arms and hands holding a recorder. With red chalk alone, the artist exaggerated the bony fingers just enough to capture the delicate tension necessary for playing the instrument. The arms were likely added afterwards to give context to the hands, which explains the anatomically implausible distance between the shoulders.

draughtsman: Jean Antoine Watteau

1705 - 1716

rood, zwart en wit krijt

height 201 mm x width 252 mm

Mr and Mrs De Bruijn-van der Leeuw Bequest, Muri, Switzerland

bequest 1961

Public domain

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200109249