Hermaphrodite

Description

Hermaphrodite depicts a reclining nude stretching diagonally across a bed in a red-chalk study attributed to Peter Paul Rubens. Bent legs gather at the left, while the head and arms rest against a support at the right. The turning body makes the composition more than a simple horizontal outline: hips, shoulders and limbs establish a gently shifting sequence of forms. The softness of the chalk gives the figure weight without hardening every contour.

Made in the seventeenth century, the sheet uses red chalk with white accents. The contrasting marks allow lighter and darker emphasis to define forms while leaving the paper part of the image’s character. The attribution remains qualified rather than treated as securely Rubens’s own hand. Its appeal lies in the working surface, where the figure can be approached both as a recognizable subject and as an arrangement developed through careful attention to bodily structure.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Peter Paul Rubens collection.