Laura Belleli and her Daughter Giovanna by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: Laura Bellelli and her daughter Giovanna, Study for "The Bellelli Family"

Artist: Edgar Degas

Date: ca. 1858

Culture: French

Medium: Black conté crayon on pinkish buff paper with traces of white heightening

Dimensions: 16 5/8 × 11 1/2 in. (42.3 × 29.2 cm)

Framed: 26 3/8 × 21 1/4 in. (67 × 54 cm)

Credit Line: Private collection

Object No.: MD.157

The abundance of preparatory drawings related to Degas’s portrait of the Bellelli family demonstrates his grand ambition for the canvas. Among this group, the full-length sketch of Giovanna on blue paper is the earliest study, showing Degas’s younger cousin before he had determined the exact angle of her pose or attire. Her ultimate position is suggested in the large sheet, which also attends to the details of her mother’s dress. The arresting head study in charcoal dramatically fixed with shellac corresponds closely to the final painting.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/manet-degas/exhibition-objects