Three Studies of Hands for 'Reading the Will', one holding an ear trumpet

Like so many other artists, producing studies was imperative to Wilkie's process of developing the compositions of his oil paintings. His particular interest in studying the human hand was illustrated in his studio sale of 1842, where the present lot and over 60 other sheets of similar drawings were sold in dedicated sections titled 'Studies of Hands for different celebrated pictures'.

This drawing relates to Reading the Will (Neue Pinakothek, Munich, inv. WAF 1194). The painting was commissioned by Maximilian I, King of Bavaria, and completed in 1820 when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London (no. 151). The scene illustrates the moment that the will of a rich man is read to his extended family, favouring his young wife over all others, including a more elderly lady who is visible in the finished painting sweeping out of the door in disgust. Wilkie was influenced by Hogarth's satirical compositions of the mid-18th Century, which illustrated domestic scenes of downfall and scandal caused by the lure of money and romance.