Portrait of an elderly man, bust-length, looking to the right

In keeping with the French 16th Century drawing portrait tradition of trois crayons, Lagneau made use of black and red pastel to outline the sitter’s features, while he used stumping for a more nebulous backdrop (for a discussion of the technique see M. Préaud, Lagneau, exhib cat. Chantilly, Musée Condé, 2005, p. 17 and p. 32). In the 19th Century important collectors of drawings played a great part in rediscovering Lagneau’s draftsmanship, among them were the Marquis de Chennevières (1820-1899), the Duc d’Aumale (1822-1897) and Eugène Rodrigues (1853-1928), all of whom gathered important groups of the artist’s works.