# Study for The Bath of Venus [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [BOUCHER, François]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Chalk on paper ## Commentary Study for The Bath of Venus c. 1751 Chalk on paper The Hermitage, St. Petersburg This compositional sketch shows the care Boucher took in working out his design before beginning to paint. The drawing demonstrates that Boucher at first contemplated a more vertical format with the top and bottom shaped as scallops. ## Related artworks - [A Summer Pastoral]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Allegory of Music]() - [Allegory of Music]() - [Allegory of Painting]() - [Allegory of Poetry]() - [An Autumn Pastoral \(detail\)]() - [An Autumn Pastoral]() - [Apollo Revealing his Divinity before the Shepherdess Isse]() - [Are They Thinking About the Grape?]() - [Blond Odalisque \(L'Odalisque Blonde\)]() - [Brown Odalisque \(L'Odalisque Brune\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()