Figura nuda sdraiata
John Singer Sargent, famous for his glamorous society portraits, shows off his raw academic training here with a loose, energetic sketch of a reclining figure. The model lounges casually, wearing a hat and what appear to be cuffs or gloves, mixing a traditional nude study with a bit of costume drama. The heavy, scribbled shading obscures the face, keeping the focus on the relaxed anatomy and the confident, sweeping lines. Those brown spots on the page? Just the inevitable 'foxing' or aging of a sketch that has survived over a century.