Two heads of women 1664 - 1739

Pierre Parrocel made this drawing, Two Heads of Women, using black chalk on paper around the late 17th or early 18th century. It’s currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The image invites us to consider the politics of imagery, particularly concerning gender and representation. Parrocel was part of a family of artists working in France, close to the Royal court, and his drawings often served as studies for larger paintings or tapestries. The drawing reflects the aesthetic preferences of the time and the institutional frameworks that shaped artistic production. In a society where art was frequently commissioned by the church or the aristocracy, the representation of women was charged with social meaning. The figures are idealized, with a focus on their elegant hairstyles and refined features, fitting the expectations of feminine beauty. But we can also see this drawing as a product of the French academy, which prescribed the kinds of subjects artists should study. As art historians, we might use historical documents and studies of gender in 18th-century France, to understand the drawing’s cultural context more fully.