Drapery study of a kneeling, draped figure
Heavy mantle over a bowed, kneeling body, modelled in wash
A brush-and-wash study, heightened with white on a coarse woven (linen) ground, of a figure kneeling and seen from the side, the head bowed low and the arms gathered before the body. A voluminous mantle wraps the whole form and falls in broad, deeply modelled folds across the lap, pooling on the ground below. Faint circular sketches and pentimenti appear at the left edge, and the surface is much rubbed and stained.
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Kneeling figure enveloped in drapery
The figure kneels or crouches, viewed from behind and to one side, the head lowered toward the chest. A heavy mantle envelops the whole body so that only the bowed head and the folded arms emerge from the cloth.
Light and shade of the folds
The drapery is worked in graded washes with white heightening to describe how light plays across the folds. Deep shadow gathers in the recesses while the raised ridges catch the light, giving the cloth weight and relief.