Un vieil homme courbé et études subsidiaires de deux mains 

James Tissot’s drawing captures an old, bent man along with studies of hands in red chalk on blue paper. The composition is dominated by the figure whose posture suggests both physical and perhaps existential weight. Tissot's use of red chalk, or sanguine, is particularly evocative. It allows him to create a warm tonality against the cool blue of the paper, delineating the folds of fabric and the contours of the aging man. The loose, sketchy lines add a sense of movement, animating the figure and giving a ghostly presence to the disembodied hands. The hands themselves appear to float, perhaps emblematic of the transient nature of existence, a theme often visited by Tissot. Consider how the medium—red chalk—functions here, not merely as a tool for representation but as a carrier of symbolic weight. Its earthy tone connects the figure to themes of mortality and the organic processes of life. The drawing functions within a semiotic framework where the colour, form, and composition converge to suggest meanings about age, transience, and the human condition.