Study of a Head

Charles Parrocel was a cavalryman in his younger years and thus knew the military world inside out. This served him in good stead in his later career as a painter of battle scenes, for which the sheet on view here served as a preparatory drawing. Using the trois crayons technique, Parrocel deftly drew the averted head – in profil perdu – of a French officer, as indicated by the tricorne and wig.