Crouching-child sketch attributed to Manet found in Italy

A red chalk sketch of a crouching child attributed to Édouard Manet has been found in a private collection in northern Italy.

Researchers have linked the child to Manet's painting The Old Musician, according to ARTnews, which reported the rediscovery on 29 September 2026.

Attributed to, in art-world language, means specialists believe a work is by the named artist on the basis of style, materials and history, but the authorship is still under study. Red chalk is a dry, reddish drawing material often used for figure studies.

The sheet was noticed by Francesco Baccanelli while he was surveying the private collection. Baccanelli is a specialist in 17th- and 18th-century Italian painting, not a Manet scholar, which makes the spot more unlikely.

That account comes from earlier coverage by Artnet and The Guardian on 28 September. Both outlets said Baccanelli came across the drawing during routine work in the collection in northern Italy.

Artnet described the find as a mysterious drawing identified as an early work by Manet. The Guardian described it as a chalk drawing of a child attributed to the French artist.

The latest report adds the link to The Old Musician. That connection matters because it gives researchers a fixed point. Instead of a lone sketch, they can now compare the child's pose with a known painting.

What makes this stand out is the paper trail. Backs of pictures, old labels and collection inventories often decide these cases. A private collection find means that paperwork still has to be checked and published.

For readers new to this, that is normal. A rediscovery is the start of a process. Further technical checks and views from other specialists usually follow before museums and the market treat an attribution as settled.