Rubens's drawings of his children are among the most enchanting works of the type created during the seventeenth century: they have long been admired as portraits in which he distils his formidable skills of observation and empathy. One of the most appealing, although perhaps least well known of such studies, is his depiction of Frans Rubens--his eldest son from his second marriage (Fig. 1)--which forms part of the collection of the Duke of Sutherland. Although featured in the standard Corpus of Rubens's portraits, (1) this sheet has remained relatively little studied; it was not included in the last major drawings exhibition in Britain surveying the artist's career, (2) and until now has never been published in colour. (3) It has, however, recently been placed on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Scotland--a generous gesture that has made possible a fresh re-appraisal of its status, relationship with other works by Rubens, and trajectory through a series of distinguished collections.

The portrait is drawn on a sheet of unprepared light-brown laid paper chiefly in black and red chalk, with some slight touches of white in the boy's hair and on the feathers in his hat, and brown chalk in his irises (Fig. 1 and 4). (4) In spite of the touches of brown, it is essentially executed a trois crayons--a technique customarily used by Rubens for family and other portraits. This approach may have been inspired by the drawings of Hendrick Goltzius he could have studied on trips to the Northern Netherlands in 1612 and 1627, in which a similar technique was employed. (5)

The Sutherland drawing was worked up in two stages, with the outline of the face, clothes and hat being broadly and lightly established first, and then very detailed red chalk hatching applied across the face to define its volume and the softness and pallor of the skin. The boy's features have probably slightly faded and there is a very small area of abrasion on the paper close to his chin. However, overall the portrait survives in remarkably fine condition, and conveys a compelling impression of the effects Rubens strove to achieve when studying his young son's face in the mid-1630s.

The ruddy features that characterise the drawing can also be seen in a number of Rubens's studies of his children, including his outstanding portrait of Nicolaas Rubens in Vienna. (6) The use of red chalk for such studies was commonplace, (7) but it is possible that Rubens was aware of specific advice about how to depict such details through his connection with Edward Norgate (1581-1650), the author of the Art of Limning. Norgate, who was in contact with Rubens intermittently from 1618 to the end of the artist's life, (8) outlined techniques for miniature painting that had a broader application to many other forms of draughtsmanship. He developed a programme of decorum, according to which the complexions of sitters would be treated in different ways depending upon their age, sex and temperament. (9) For portraits of children...