Marin Cureau de La Chambre

About this work

This is a black-and-white portrait drawn on smooth, thin paper. A man with curly hair and a serious expression faces forward, wearing a high-collared shirt with ruffled sleeves. The shading is soft but precise, especially around his face and hands. The artist used only graphite and scraping to create depth, avoiding any color. This kind of careful shading was common in 17th-century portraits. Next, look up chiaroscuro to see how artists used light and dark to shape faces.