Compositional Study of a Supper Scene
Many figures grouped along a long table, with subsidiary figure groups below
In red chalk the sheet lays out a frieze-like supper composition: along a long table in the upper register some twelve figures are gathered, several leaning forward and gesturing with open hands around a calmer central figure, while a servant with a shallow dish sits on a stool at the lower left. Below, further figures are grouped in twos and threes, seated and turned toward one another. Short inscriptions, apparently identifying the figures, run above the heads of the upper row but are not transcribed here; a large stain and an inventory number mark the lower part of the sheet.
On this page
Figures gathered along the table
The upper register ranges a dozen half-length figures behind and beside a long table, their varied poses and animated hand gestures reacting outward from a quieter central figure. The types are strongly individualised, from bearded elders to a youthful profile.
Arrangement of a multi-figure composition
The drawing works out the grouping of a large narrative scene, distributing the figures rhythmically along the horizontal of the table and repeating clustered groups in the register below. It is a study of how many figures can be balanced within a single unified composition.
Untranscribed inscriptions above the figures
Lines of handwriting run in the blank space above the heads of the upper row, evidently labelling or naming the figures beneath. This writing is present on the sheet but is not included among the transcribed texts and is not read here.