Study of an Old Woman

A black chalk study shows an elderly woman with hair pulled back from her face, her head turned slightly upward. A loose, heavy shawl drapes over her shoulders and arms, its folds rendered in quick, sketchy strokes against the pale paper.

Look closer: Handwritten monogram and date in black ink or chalk at the upper right corner.

Artist

August Xaver Karl von Pettenkofen

Date

1886

Medium

Black chalk; traces of a framing line in red chalk along the left edge

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2487 × 3865 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2007