Portrait of a Man 18th century

This is an anonymous drawing of a man, made with red chalk, and housed at the Metropolitan Museum. The lack of information about the artist invites speculation about the drawing’s origins. Looking at the man’s powdered wig and the style of the drawing, we can guess it may have been made in the 1700s. It was a time when European society was highly stratified. Wigs like these were worn by privileged men as a symbol of their social status. There's something very intimate about the drawing, despite the man's elevated social position. His gaze is direct, and there's a hint of a smile. The casualness contrasts the formality of the wig, complicating the narrative of class and status. Perhaps the anonymous artist was challenging traditional representations, or maybe they sought to capture the complexities of identity during a time of social change.