Small Fountain, Child Playing on the Grotesques (Petite fontaine, enfant qui joue surdes masques)

Alphonse Legros

National Gallery of Art

This image shows a cherub sitting on a fountain head. The drawing depicts a scene where a cherub-like figure is seated on top of a sculpted head of an elderly man with a beard. Water is shown flowing out from the sculpted head's mouth. The lines are finely rendered with delicate hatching techniques to depict the texture of the beard and water. The cherub has a playful expression on its face. The background is subtly sketched, focusing on the central figures.