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Source Description
This sheet was a preparatory study for the painting <em>The Romancer</em>. An actor in the costume of Mezzetin, a stock character of the commedia dell’arte (a type of satirical theatrical entertainment of Italian origin popular in aristocratic circles in 18th-century France), interrupts a guitarist with a bold sexual advance. Another actor dressed as the French pantomime stock character Pierrot peers lasciviously over the young musician’s shoulder. A more detailed study of Pierrot’s head occupies the upper left corner of the sheet, demonstrating Jean Antoine Watteau’s experimentation with how to most effectively depict a lecherous gaze.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
110060
label
Study for "The Romancer" (Le Conteur)
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
110060
contentType
drawing
title
Study for "The Romancer" (Le Conteur)
description
This sheet was a preparatory study for the painting <em>The Romancer</em>. An actor in the costume of Mezzetin, a stock character of the commedia dell’arte (a type of satirical theatrical entertainment of Italian origin popular in aristocratic circles in 18th-century France), interrupts a guitarist with a bold sexual advance. Another actor dressed as the French pantomime stock character Pierrot peers lasciviously over the young musician’s shoulder. A more detailed study of Pierrot’s head occupies the upper left corner of the sheet, demonstrating Jean Antoine Watteau’s experimentation with how to most effectively depict a lecherous gaze.
date
c. 1716
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60753702
creators
14067
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 35 x 27.5 cm (13 3/4 x 10 13/16 in.); Secondary Support: 35.1 x 27.8 cm (13 13/16 x 10 15/16 in.)
cul
France, 18th century
accession
1928.661
Source extras
tec
red chalk; red and black chalk (upper left figure)
tombstone
Study for "The Romancer" (Le Conteur), c. 1716. Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721). Red chalk; red and black chalk (upper left figure); sheet: 35 x 27.5 cm (13 3/4 x 10 13/16 in.); secondary support: 35.1 x 27.8 cm (13 13/16 x 10 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1928.661
supportMaterials
description
two sheets (joined) of yellow-beige(2) laid paper laid down on cream(3) wove paper
collection
DR - French
didYouKnow
Jean Antoine Watteau likely drew this sheet from a combination of life study and imagination, working from a model and adding other elements of his own creation.
citations
citation
H. S. F. “‘The Romancer,’ a Drawing by Jean Antoine Watteau.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 16, no. 10 (1929): 179–81.
page_number
Reproduced: Front Matter; mentioned: pp. 179-181.
citation
H. S. F. "Drawings in the Classic and Romantic Tradition before 1830." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 19, no. 10 (1932): 166-75.
page_number
Mentioned p. 167
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25137511
citation
Milliken, William. "Silver Jubilee Exhibition." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>28, no.6 (June 1941): 88-108
page_number
Mentioned: p. 91; Reproduced: p. 104
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 591
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 133
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 133
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 175
citation
Borowitz, Helen O. “The Watteau and Chardin of Marcel Proust.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 69, no. 1 (January 1982): 18–35.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 24-25, fig. 12
citation
Goldfarb, Hilliard T. “Boucher’s ‘Pastoral Scene with Family at Rest’ and the Image of the Pastoral in Eighteenth-Century France.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 71, no. 3 (March 1984): 82–89.
page_number
MEntioned and reproduced: p. 86, fig. 9
citation
Borowitz, Helen O. “Three Guitars: Reflections of Italian Comedy in Watteau, Daumier, and Picasso.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 71, no. 4 (April 1984): 116–129.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 118, fig. 4
citation
<em>The Mask of Comedy: The Art of Italian Commedia</em>. Exh. Cat. Louisville, KY: J. B. Speed Memorial Art Museum, 1990.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 10
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-06-12 11:24:18.755000
sourceId
110060
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - French
med
red chalk; red and black chalk (upper left figure)
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
2747b5a26c01ce84