Long-Lost Manet Drawing Rediscovered in a Private Italian Collection

A small red-chalk drawing of a crouching child, kept for years in a private collection in northern Italy, has been newly attributed to French artist Édouard Manet.

The discovery has attracted attention from art historians because the drawing appears to be connected to some of Manet’s best-known works and may offer a glimpse into how he developed figures for his paintings.

A Drawing Hidden in a Private Collection

The drawing was noticed by Italian art historian Francesco Baccanelli while he was examining a private collection. He later sent photographs of the work to Emily Beeny, a leading Manet specialist and chief curator at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

Beeny and Baccanelli identified several characteristics that they believe are consistent with Manet’s work from the late 1850s and 1860s.

Clues in the Artist’s Technique

The small sheet, measuring about 20.5 by 17.5 centimeters, is made with red chalk and shows a child crouching on the ground.

Experts noted Manet-like transitions between light and shadow as well as distinctive details in the figure’s hands. Ultraviolet examination also revealed evidence of a faded studio stamp in the corner of the drawing.

A Possible Link to The Old Musician

Researchers believe the drawing may be connected to Manet’s 1862 painting The Old Musician, which depicts several people from everyday Parisian life.

The pose of the child in the rediscovered drawing resembles the barefoot child holding an infant in the painting. Similarities have also been noted between the drawing and a figure in Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe.

The Identity of the Child Remains Unknown

Although the figure appears to be a young girl, researchers have not established the identity of the model.

One possibility is that Manet used a young boy named Alexandre, who worked in his studio cleaning brushes and other materials. However, this remains a theory rather than a confirmed identification.

A Rare Discovery

The drawing also contains a grid around the figure, a technique known as squaring that artists could use when transferring a study to a larger canvas.

However, no finished Manet painting containing the exact crouching figure has been identified. Researchers therefore say the drawing’s original purpose remains uncertain.

New Insight Into Manet’s Creative Process

The newly attributed work provides another piece of evidence about how Manet studied people and developed figures for his paintings.

The findings by Beeny and Baccanelli are being published in the October issue of The Burlington Magazine. Further scholarly examination may help determine the drawing’s place within Manet’s known body of work.

Sources

• Smithsonian Magazine — “An Enigmatic Chalk Drawing, Rediscovered in a Private Italian Collection, Has Been Identified as the Long-Lost Work of Édouard Manet” — September 30, 2026.
• The Guardian — “Rediscovered chalk drawing of child attributed to Édouard Manet” — September 28, 2026.
• Artnet News — “Mysterious Drawing Identified as Early Manet Work” — September 28, 2026.