Dimensions: support: 325 x 245 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: This is Mary Beale's "Sketch of the Artist's Son, Bartholomew Beale, in Profile," held at the Tate. Editor: The sketch is surprisingly gentle, almost ethereal. The muted palette and soft focus create an intimate atmosphere. Curator: Observe how Beale uses light and shadow to sculpt Bartholomew's face, drawing attention to the slope of his nose and the curl of his hair. The rendering of his features showcases the formal conventions of portraiture. Editor: Children in portraits often symbolize innocence and hope. The profile view, a classical trope, might suggest an idealization of youth and future potential. Curator: Indeed, Beale was a celebrated portraitist, often depicting figures of stature, making this intimate study of her son particularly compelling from a structural viewpoint. Editor: This image leaves me considering the enduring power of familial love, captured through the artistic lens of a mother's gaze.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/beale-sketch-of-the-artists-son-bartholomew-beale-in-profile-t13245
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These intimate sketches show Mary Beale’s elder son Bartholomew Beale (1656–1709) at around four years of age. In the 1670s Bartholomew worked as a studio assistant to his mother but by 1680 had abandoned painting to study medicine at Cambridge, later practising as a physician in Coventry. The technique of producing oil sketches on primed paper, rather than sketching in chalk on paper or in paint on canvas, is unusual and characteristic of Mary Beale’s early work. Gallery label, February 2016
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