Studies for a Virgin and Child group
A Holy Family composition above, a seated Virgin and Child below
A sheet of devotional composition studies in pen and ink with red chalk, worked up as two groups. The upper group is a Holy Family: a bearded elder leans in at the left, the Virgin holds the Christ Child at the centre, and their poses are searched out in overlapping trial lines. The lower group is a more finished seated Virgin who cradles the Christ Child against her, drawn within a faint ruled border. No transcribed text accompanies the sheet.
On this page
Holy Family group
The upper composition assembles a bearded older man at the left, the Virgin, and the Christ Child seated at the centre, their interlocking gestures reworked in successive trial lines. The study concentrates on how the three figures lean toward and support one another.
Seated Virgin and Child composition
The lower group is a more resolved compositional study: the Virgin sits on the ground, her drapery spreading around her, and holds the Christ Child close against her body. A faint ruled framing line encloses the group as if planning a picture.