The Kaunitz Sisters (Leopoldine, Caroline, and Ferdinandine)

The Kaunitz Sisters (Leopoldine, Caroline, and Ferdinandine), a compelling graphite drawing created by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in 1818, stands as a masterful example of the neoclassical portrait tradition that defined his early career in Rome. Executed with meticulous precision and subtle modeling, this piece showcases Ingres's technical brilliance as a draftsman, demonstrating why his detailed drawings were often valued as highly as his finished oil paintings.

The composition portrays the three daughters of Count Aloys von Kaunitz-Rietberg, an influential Austrian diplomat and patron residing in the city at the time. Ingres, needing income while abroad, specialized in these sensitive, commissioned portraits of aristocratic women and foreign visitors. His ability to capture the individual characters and fashionable sensibilities of his sitters using only a pencil and paper is evident in the precise rendering of hair, costume, and facial expression. The subtlety of the graphite technique enhances the intimacy of the portraits.

This highly refined work, classified as a seminal example of early 19th-century French draftsmanship, is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As with many significant works from this period now residing in major institutions, high-quality prints and photographic reproductions are often made available through public domain initiatives, allowing the precise line work of Ingres to be studied globally by students and researchers. This piece remains a crucial document, capturing the era's taste for austere, refined beauty in the genre of portraiture.