Girl Reading
1760. Red chalk.Not on display
This drawing depicts the scene of a girl sitting and leaning over a table. She is holding a letter in her right hand and a candle in her left.
The engraving, of which there is evidence in the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library of Spain), bears the following inscription: ‘Le negligé galant. Gravé d’après le tableau original de Charles Coypel Tiré du Cabinet de Mr. Le Conte de Vence, Marechal de Camps et Armées du Roy. Charles Coypel pinx. M. Salvador Carmona Sculp 1760. A Paris chez Buldel, rue de Gesvres’.
The Biblioteca Nacional also keeps another preparatory drawing (B. 1959) almost identical to this one.
Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Museo del Prado, Catálogo de Dibujos, III. Dibujos Españoles. Siglo XVIII. C-Z, Madrid, 1977, p.106