Cornelis Pietersz. Bega Haarlem 1631/2 - 1664

The use of black and white chalk on blue paper, the concentration on effects of light and shade, and the contrast between carefully worked and more cursorily delineated parts of the same figure, are all characteristic of Bega's distinctive style.  As Peter Schatborn has noted, although Bega's figure studies such as this are very similar to those in both his etchings and his paintings, none of his known drawings appear to be direct preliminary studies (see P. Schatborn, Dutch Figure Drawings from the seventeenth century, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, and Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1981-2, p. 105).