Study of a Female Child

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Drawing details

Title: Study of a Female Child
Date: 1850-60
Media: Black and white bodycolour on grey paper
Dimensions: 40.4 x 32.4 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Reference number: LHO/D/0904
Inscriptions: Stamped on reverse, lower left "LLC" encircled, in black ink. Inscribed on reverse, lower right "a composition never carried out" in pencil.

Interpretation

This study may have been made in connection with the painting 'Venus and Cupid' (c.1856, private collection), as the face of the child is similar to that of the cupid in the painting.

Description

Head and shoulders nude study of a female child, turned to the left. The child is viewed from above. The upper part of the left arm is shown reaching across the body. The child has shoulder length hair. 

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist to his sisters, Mrs. Augusta Matthews (n+e Augusta Neunburg Leighton, 1835-1919) and Mrs. Alexandra Orr (n+e Alexandra Leighton, 1828-1903); purchased by the Fine Art Society in 1896; collection of Leighton House Museum