This painting portrays a maid carrying a tray with hot
chocolate on it. The tones of her dress
complement perfectly her pale luminous skin.
At the time chocolate was a treat food and was served
with water on the side.
This was done with pastels – amazing!
The artist was a bit of an eccentric. Born in Switzerland he spent quite a long
time in the Ottoman empire and adopted Turkish dress even when back in Britain.
My attention was drawn to this work by a huge doorstop
of a book I got from the library – The Art Book from Phaidon Press. Get it out if you have strong enough
muscles. There are 579 pages, each
dedicated to one work by an artist. The
artists are in alpha order so you get interesting juxtapositions between modern
art and old masters.
I love art and seeing paintings from the past. Pastels?? SO beautiful. It boggles my mind at the talent that took.
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