Study of the Kneeling Lady’s Dress for the Painting ‘The Upbringing of Sigismund Augustus’ 1861

This study of a dress was made by Józef Simmler using white chalk and graphite on paper, preparatory to his painting ‘The Upbringing of Sigismund Augustus’. The beauty of the work emerges from the material itself, graphite, and chalk on paper, yielding a contrast between the weave of the fabric and its fall in three-dimensional space. The dress appears to be made from a patterned silk, which was a luxury good in the 19th century. Consider the social context of such an opulent material, which underscores the wealth and status of the figures in Simmler's historical painting, and also the labor of the weavers and artisans required to produce such a fine textile. The artist, through his careful handling of line and tone, invites us to contemplate the broader economic and cultural forces at play in the creation of both the dress and the painting itself. By focusing our attention on the materiality and the making of things, we can challenge traditional distinctions between fine art and craft, revealing the rich tapestry of human creativity and labor that underlies all artistic expression.