Préparation for a Portrait of Louis XV (1710-1774)

Maurice Quentin de La Tour

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the age of Enlightenment when the medium of pastel gained immense popularity, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour was perhaps its most gifted practitioner. He was distinguished from his peers by his ability to capture the inner spirit and intellect of his sitters. To achieve this end he developed a method of preparing his works through preliminary studies of the head, seen from different angles and with different expressions. Described by the French term préparation, these rapid drawings in pastel, often done on blue paper, showcase La Tour’s virtuoso talents. This pastel study was made as part of the preparatory process for La Tour’s first portrait commission of king Louis XV, exhibited in the 1745 Salon. This close study of his head was undoubtedly done from life and makes clear the access and time granted to La Tour. The sense of underlying bone structure, and the tone and texture of the complexion are expertly achieved, but most impressive is La Tour’s ability to convey the quality of mind behind the young king’s eyes, projecting an animated and engaged intellect. Perrin Stein, May 2014

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art