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Study of Hands (recto)
About the Artwork
After Pierre Lenfant served as the official battlefield artist to King Louis XV in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), he and his family were awarded a lifetime residence at the royal Gobelins Manufactory on the outskirts of Paris. This delicate study in colored chalks may depict a weaver pulling threads in the textile factory.
Inscriptions
lower right, in graphite: lenfant
Provenance
?-1946: Victor Spark [1898-1991], New York, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH 1946-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Eighteenth Century Masterpieces. Society of the Four Arts (organizer) (December 12, 1952-January 4, 1953). Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959). Aspects of Drawing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 10-April 2, 1961). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Pierre Lenfant (French, 1704–1787)
- Date
- 1700s
- Medium
- red and black chalk heightened with white chalk
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 20.1 x 20.4 cm (7 15/16 x 8 1/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Victor Spark, New York
- Accession no.
- 1946.447.a
More by Pierre Lenfant in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011078
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