1857, Edgar Degas, The Old Italian Woman -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: In addition to making copies during the formative years that Degas spent in Italy, from 1856 to 1859, he also created studies of men and women in local costume. His eye for realist detail is evident in the rendering of the woman's wizened skin and aged hands. Monumental and unsparing, the painting avoids the picturesque sentimentality common to many contemporary images of peasants and beggars.
1857, Edgar Degas, The Old Italian Woman -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
From the museum label: In addition to making copies during the formative years that Degas spent in Italy, from 1856 to 1859, he also created studies of men and women in local costume. His eye for realist detail is evident in the rendering of the woman's wizened skin and aged hands. Monumental and unsparing, the painting avoids the picturesque sentimentality common to many contemporary images of peasants and beggars.