Woman's Head in Three-Quarter Profile to Right n.d.

Louis Marin Bonnet created this drawing of a woman’s head using chalk, sometime in the late 18th century. Chalk is an interesting medium. Though we think of it today as something for blackboards, it was in Bonnet’s time a favoured way of rendering subtle tonal variations and delicate lines. Note the softness of the woman’s face, and the texture of her hair, which is elegantly adorned with what looks like a plaited band. These are the kind of details that would have appealed to aristocratic patrons of the period. Bonnet, who specialized in prints, was able to create a drawing that evokes not only the visual likeness of the sitter, but also her social status. The image gives us a sense of the amount of labour and skill required to create such an artwork. In a way, the drawing itself is a product, but also documents the social and economic conditions of its time. Appreciating this kind of drawing means understanding not only the artistic skill involved, but also its place in a wider social and cultural context.