Profile Portrait of a Woman
ca. 1780–82
Medium
Graphite, red and black chalk, with touches of blue wash
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 in. × 5 1/16 in. (15.3 × 12.8 cm)(oval)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019
Accession Number
2019.138.1
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created around 1780–82, Augustin de Saint-Aubin’s *Profile Portrait of a Woman* captures the refined elegance of late eighteenth-century French portraiture. Rendered in graphite and red and black chalk with delicate touches of blue wash, the small oval drawing measures just over six inches tall. This intimate scale and format were especially popular for private likenesses, inviting close viewing and suggesting a personal or preparatory work rather than a formal commission. The combination of media allows for both precise line work and subtle tonal modeling, highlighting the sitter’s graceful silhouette against a softly modulated background. Profile views like this one echoed classical cameos and medals, reflecting the period’s fascination with antique ideals amid the Enlightenment. As a work now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection through the bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, the drawing offers today’s visitors a window into the quiet sophistication of pre-Revolutionary French draftsmanship and the enduring appeal of the female profile in art.
About the Artist
Augustin de Saint-Aubin · 1736–1807
Comment on works: Illustrator; Engraver