ABRAHAM-LOUIS-RODOLPHE DUCROS | Washerwomen

Hinged to the mount at the upper margin. Light brown stains in the centre of the sheet and at the four corners. Colours remain reasonably fresh and vibrant.
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Washerwomen feature in the foreground of many of Ducros's large watercolour landscapes.  It was commonplace in Rome in the 18th century for the main landscape artists working in Italy to employ assistants to help with the figures that populated these picturesque views.  Ducros and J P Hackert both sought assistance from other artists to render convincing figure studies for their commissions.  The present sheet is close to another drawing of figure studies in the Kunstsmuseum in Bern which is signed Mazzola, and is possibly by the hand of Giuseppe Mazzola Valduggia (1748-1838).¹  However, there is a certain amount of ambiguity over whose hand can be detected in the various figure studies within Ducros's compositions and the artist himself did execute some independently.  This watercolour is a lively and vibrant working drawing that gives a fascinating insight into the development of Ducros's grand landscapes.

^1. Images of The Grand Tour:  Louis Ducros 1748-1810, exhib. cat., London, The Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood; Manchester, The Whitworth Art Gallery, 1985-1986, p. 23, fig. 4