Head and two hands 

Editor: This is “Head and two hands,” a drawing by Nicolas Lancret. It’s just the head and two hands rendered in sanguine. The hands especially strike me; they’re so expressive despite being just a quick sketch. What do you see in this piece? Curator: For me, it’s all about gesture. The tilt of the head, the way the hands are poised – they evoke a world of Rococo flirtation and manners. Red chalk itself has a long tradition in preparatory sketches, from the Renaissance onward. Editor: Preparatory? You mean, he was planning a painting perhaps? Curator: Precisely. These isolated studies often reveal a lot about the artistic process. Consider how the hand at the bottom almost seems to clutch at something, as if in conversation, whilst the position of the head evokes something. What could these allude to? Editor: Well, her head looks slightly tilted as if listening. And if the hands are gesturing, perhaps she's involved in an intense conversation or perhaps she's about to receive something... Maybe the symbolism ties into the social rituals of the time? Curator: Exactly! The fan, the hat, they are props within the symbolic language of courtship. Lancret gives us the bare minimum, and our minds fill in the blanks. Consider, though, the emotional subtext; are these images merely about social pleasantries or the real stirrings of emotion? Editor: It's fascinating how a few lines can carry so much cultural weight. I’ll never look at a Rococo painting the same way. Curator: Nor I. Spotting and interpreting gestures connects us directly to people in the past; we are not simply appreciating pretty lines, we see figures with intention and inner thoughts, as vibrant today as when they were sketched.