Marcellus Laroon The Elder 1653-1702. Pen and ink drawing. Figure Study. Monogrammed upper right. 5.7 by 8.5 cms. Image. 27.5 by 33.3 cms. Overall framed.
Laroon came to London from The Hague in 1674 and established himself as the studio assistant of Sir Godfrey Kneller. Working independently, he also painted portraits and drew vivid genre subjects whose unsentimental approach to everyday life anticipates that of William Hogarth. This small figure drawing echoes the engravings Laroon designed in 1687 entitled "The Cryes of the City of London Drawne after the Life."