Study of a Female Nude

This drawing is the most worked−up version of three female nude sketches, now in the possession of the National Gallery in Prague. Its intimate, sensual and fairly erotic treatment is also characteristic of Mánes’s later works of the 1850s. These are distinguished by a highly refined expression that combines realistic observation with an idealization in the spirit of classical portraiture. This drawing belongs with the artist’s finest works depicting the female nude. In his pencil work, Mánes achieved extraordinary sensitivity. Using delicate hatching, the artist accentuated only a few points of the female body which, despite the fairly cursory sketching, evoke a vivid sense of plasticity. The modelling of the figure is built up as if from within and the individual lines merge together into a solid form, endowing the drawing with almost painterly qualities.