Sheet of Studies and Sketches (1858): Art, History and Details

Sheet of Studies and Sketches (1858) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Degas traveled to Florence, Italy, in July 1858, where he made this sheet of studies. The featured imagery is fragmented and dissociated, suggesting the young artist's engagement with art of the past. The refined female head drawn at center in graphite was copied from a drawing then attributed to Leonardo da Vinci in the Uffizi Gallery's collection. Other sketches record Degas's responses to Florentine sculpture. At upper right, he sketched an informal portrait of his cousin Giulia Bellelli, probably from life.

Object facts

• Title: Sheet of Studies and Sketches
• Date: 1858
• Creator attribution: Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: graphite, pen and dark brown ink, and watercolor on thick ivory wove paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 30.4 x 23.5 cm (11 15/16 x 9 1/4 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1951.430

A detail from the museum

The date Degas wrote on this drawing is incorrect; he didn't visit Florence until 1858, and must have inscribed the sheet years later.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue des tableaux, pastels et dessins par Edgar Degas et provenant de son atelier. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1919.
• George, Waldemar. "The Youth of Degas." Formes 15 (May 1931).
• Graber, Hans. Edgar Degas: Nach eigenen und fremden Zeugnissen. Basel: Benno Schwabe, 1942.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.