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Description: | Signed: yes Description: The Letter Writer demonstrates Mercier's fusion of three diverse traditions: the subject derives from seventeenth-century Dutch genre paintings such as Gabriel Metsu's The Letter Writer Surprised in the Wallace Collection, while the inclusion of a character from the Commedia dell' Arte is a citation in the style of Watteau. The pose of the sitter may be compared to the more informal poses seen in the contemporary British portraits of Charles Jervas, Thomas Hudson and William Hogarth, who it has been suggested borrowed Mercier's motif of the woman in this painting, for his celebrated double portrait of David Garrick and his wife in the Royal Collection. The writer in Mercier's large painting begins her letter 'Carrissimo' in Italian, but her pen draws away from the page, as she holds her head and looks up for inspiration as to how to continue. The Commedia figure parodies her perplexed expression by placing his crooked index finger to his lip, as he looks over her shoulder lending the scene a light humorous air. Both figures in this 'fancy' picture have individually characterised features, suggesting their likenesses were taken from life. | Subjects: | figure; interior | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Mercier, Philippe (French painter, 1689-1760, active in England) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8725... | Go to resource |
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