Statue of Cleopatra

Employing only black chalk, the artist achieves a light‑filled surface through minimal shading and loose contouring. The laid paper provides a subtle texture that interacts with the rapid strokes, creating a sketch‑like quality. This approach aligns with the Romantic era’s preference for atmospheric, picturesque renderings and the artist’s broader practice of producing capriccio‑type studies.

The drawing is attributed to Hubert Robert, a French painter known chiefly for his landscape capricci. Although primarily a painter, Robert occasionally produced drawings that explored classical subjects. The work’s dating to the early 1760s places it within his formative period, before his later, more elaborate compositions of ruins and imagined antiquities.

During the mid‑18th century, European artists increasingly turned to ancient themes, inspired by archaeological discoveries and the Grand Tour. Robert’s *Statue of Cleopatra* exemplifies this trend, merging a classical figure with the Romantic sensibility for spontaneous, evocative sketching, thereby bridging scholarly interest and artistic imagination.