Three Soldiers Discovering a Sleeping Woman

Nicolas-Raymond de La Fage

1673

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Baroque Baroque Allegory

About this work

This sketch shows three men in armor standing around a woman who’s asleep on the ground. One soldier holds a spear, another leans on a shield, and the third looks down at her. Their faces are blurred, but their poses are stiff and dramatic. The background is filled with quick, tangled lines, like vines or branches, giving the scene a messy, chaotic feel. Notice how the artist used lots of thin, crisscrossed lines to shade the figures—this gives them a rough, sketchy texture. The woman’s dress is barely more than a few strokes, but you can still tell it’s flowing. Look up cross-hatching to see how artists use it to build shadows and depth.