Manet Drawing Unveiled: Child's Identity a Mystery

An art historian has identified a rediscovered drawing as a previously unpublished work by the renowned 19th-century French painter Édouard Manet. The red chalk sketch, depicting a young child, was found in a private collection in northern Italy.

Art specialist Francesco Baccanelli brought the drawing to the attention of Manet specialist Emily Beeny, chief curator at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Beeny noted stylistic consistencies with Manet's life studies from the 1850s and 1860s, including characteristic "plump, tapered fingers."

Ultraviolet analysis further supported the attribution by revealing a faded Manet studio stamp on the artwork. Baccanelli expressed being "completely captivated" by the drawing and increasingly convinced of its authenticity.

While Beeny speculates the child may be the same figure appearing in Manet's 1862 painting "The Old Musician," the child's exact identity and the drawing's original purpose remain a mystery. The artwork was gridded, suggesting an intention for canvas transfer, but no corresponding finished piece has been identified.

Their findings are set to be published in The Burlington Magazine. The drawing has a documented sale history from the 1930s but had not appeared in scholarly Manet publications. It awaits study by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute for inclusion in a future catalogue raisonné.