Thalia (?)
Before 1769. Red chalk, White chalk on dark toned paper.Not on display
This drawing only depicts a study of a head in left profile, with an elaborate hairstyle of a female figure with her back turned. This study possibly would have been intended for the figure in D003558. This drawing was attributed to Mengs in the Real Museo’s inventory in 1857 with the number 110. Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly a preparatory drawing for the corresponding figure in the lower-central part of the fresco The Apotheosis of Hercules, painted before 1769, corresponding to the cupola in the Conversation Room of the living quarters of the Princes of Asturias, today converted into the Hall of Mirrors or Music Room in the Royal Palace in Madrid.
Arnáez, Rocío, Catálogo de Dibujos II. Dibujos españoles siglo XVIII. A-B, Madrid, 1975, p.32
