Figure Studies and Sketches of Buildings from the Medina (recto); An Arab Woman and Child (verso)

During his stay in Morocco Delacroix used 'two complementary and parallel styles' (A. Sérullaz, Delacroix in Morocco, exhib. cat., Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 1995, pp. 131). The first concerned color and detail: Delacroix would cover the sheet with a number of small rapid sketches with color annotations. The colors would frequently be added at a later stage. The present drawing is a characteristic example of this type; similar sheets are preserved at the National Museum in Stockholm (Sérullaz, op. cit., nos. 5, 6, 7 and 11). The drawing was probably part of an album which was dismembered after Delacroix's studio sale.
Delacroix's second drawing style is broader and, although sometimes also concerned with details, it focuses more on a summarizing representation of figures and costumes.